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Copyright N° 

COPyRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



A HISTORY OF 
THE UNITED STATES 



A HISTORY 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES 



BY 



WILLIAM C. DOUB 

KX-SUPERINTENDEKT OF SCHOOLS I'OU KERN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA 

AUTHOR OF "educational questions," '' topical discussion of 
geography/' "teachers' manual and course of study 

IN HISTORY AM) CIVICS," "PUPIL'S OUTLINE OF 
AMERICAN HISTORY," ETC. 



DOUB & COMPANY 

SAN FRANCISCO 



1906 



All rights reservea 



.1 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 
JVN 18 1907 
- CBpyrlfht Eflb7 

--CUSS «^ XXC, No. 

/6>6> no 

COPY B. 



COPYRIGHT, 1905 
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

COPYRIGHT, 1906 
BY DOUB & COMPANY 



Set up, electrotyped, and published June, 1905 

Reprinted July, September, 1905 

May, August, 1906 



PREFACE 

During recent years there has l)ecn much written and 
much said ahout makin.t;- the study of history and civics in the 
elementary schools something more than committing to mem- 
ory dates, facts, and events. Many newspapers and educa- 
tional journals and many of those educators who talk publicly 
on school questions have criticised severely, the results se- 
cured from the time devoted to history and civics in the 
grammar schools. The method used and the lack of proper 
preparation on the part of the teacher have been held respon- 
sible for the poor results secured in these subjects. It has been 
customary to hold the teacher responsible for the method 
used and for her poor preparation, and thus to place the 
entire blame on her. Many have promptly and justly replied 
that they cannot 1)e expected to expend from two to three 
thousand dollars in securing a higher education for the pur- 
pose of receiving the small salaries ])aid in the elementary 
schools. They have also replied- — and this is even more to the 
point — that not being specialists in history and civics, they 
cannot, with any degree of success, teach these subjects by 
the topical method when every grammar school history text- 
book in print adopts, almost entirely, the cut-and-dried chro- 
nological-event method. In relation to all these conditions, 
special attention is called to the fact that in this book the topi- 
cal treatment is used without any reserve whatever. No 
teacher can use this book as a text-book and use any other than 
the topical method, and no pupil can study this book without 
becoming interested in the real spirit of our history. (Sec 
Explanatory and Suggestive, page ix.) 



vi Preface 

The use of this volume as a res^ular text makes a separate 
study of civics and the use of a separate book on cfivics en- 
tirely unnecessary, in fact, undesirable. This is due to the 
fullness and to the nature of the treatment which the subject 
of government has received. It is deemed best, at least so 
far as the elementary schools arc concerned, to consider his- 
tory and civics one subject, and to teach them as such. This 
method will tend to give the pupil some conception of the real 
nature of government and of his relation to the same. He 
will not look upon civil government as an indistinct and life- 
less structure, because he is being led to see the true relation 
which exists between history and civics, — led to see that gov- 
ernment is the enactment of the experience of society into law, 
and that history is the record of that experience. He will see 
that all the more important parts of governmental machinery, 
such as the division of government into the three departments 
and the division of the legislative department into two houses, 
are merely the crystallization of ideas which society has gradu- 
ally developed. The treatment in this volume makes govern- 
ment so completely an integral part of the history of the nation 
that the pupil will readily see and understand this vital rela- 
tionship. This will give him a much better and more valuable 
knowledge of government and of his relation to the same than 
he would receive from a separate study of this subject. 

Some of the conclusions reached in this volume do not agree 
with those reached by many who have discussed American his- 
tory. It mav be proper to state in this cnnnecti(Mi thai this 
volume was in definite course of preparation for more than six 
years, and that during this time nearly all the more valuable 
sources bearing on the subjects discussed were gone over care- 
fully. Any criticism of the more important conclusions herein 
reached becomes, therefore, a question as to the correct inter- 



Preface 



Vll 



pretation of the sources. In connection with this last statement 
it is but just to say, that if this volume contains anything of 
unusual merit and interest for the student, for the teacher, or 
for the general reader, it is due in no small measure to Pro- 
fessor George Elliott Howard. While Dr. Howard had noth- 
ing to do in the direct preparation of this volume, it was while 
a member of his classes at Stanford University that I caught 
something of his inspiration for candid, logical, and devoted re- 
search that made the preparation of this work by me possible. 



WILLIAM C. DOUB 



S.\N Francisco. California 
January, 1905 



THE TRUE SPIRIT OF HISTORY 

"It is a product of the general feeling among progressive 
educators that history should cease to be a mere exercise in 
memory gymnastics, and become a genuine study of human life 
and experience. In the grammar school, as well as in the high 
school or the university, history should be so presented that 
man is ever seen to be its real object. It should never for a 
single moment be lost sight of that, while the right study of 
history affords a training for the reason and the judgment 
scarcely rivaled by that gained from any other source, yet the 
chief subject-matter is man in his political and other social rela- 
tions. It is the things which are really important in human 
progress, in the struggle for existence, that one wishes to know. 
Lists of dates and genealogical tables of royal or noble person- 
ages are not so helpful to the youth preparing himself for citi- 
zenship as a knowledge of the institutions of his country and 
state, or eVen of his county, village, or school district." 

— From Dr. George Elliott Howard's introductory note to Doub's 
"Topical Discussion of American History" (first edition). 



viil 



EXPLANATORY AND SUGGESTIVE 

Amount of Subject Matter. — While this book contains a Ht- 
tle more subject matter than any other grammar school text on 
American history, it is the shortest course in history and civics 
for the grammar grades so far published. If any other gram- 
mar school history is used as a text, a grammar school text on 
civics must also be used. If these two books arc standard texts, 
they will contain from sixty to a hundred and fifty ordinary 
sized pages more than this book contains. The shorter course 
in this book is the result of the combination of history and civics. 
A separate text on civics must contain a large amount of his- 
tory in order that the civics may have even a fairly proper his- 
torical setting. Because of this, it would require a book of 
more than two hundred and fifty pages to contain the civics in 
this history, whereas here, on account of it being a part of the 
history, this work on civics takes up only about one hundred 
and twenty-five pages and at the same time secures the great 
value that comes from having it an integral part of a regular 
history. This book, therefore, by making the use of a separate 
text on civics unnecessary, constitutes the shortest, as well as 
the least expensive, grammar grade course in history and civics 
so far published. 

Method of Treatment. — The subject-matter in this book is 
rather more mature and gives a deeper insight into the real 
growth and development of American history than any that 
has heretofore been prepared for grammar grade work. In 
spite of this maturity of treatment, teachers and pupils have 
found the work unusually easy to accomplish. This is due to 
the method of treatment and to the nature of the subject- 
matter. The history of the United States is divded into its 
natural periods, and the discussion of every topic in each pe- 
riod is continuous and complete. This division and this method 
make possible a treatment that is continuous, logical, simple, 



X Explanatory and Suggestive 

clear, and interestinc^. The work in history ceases to consist 
of memorizing dates, facts, and events, and becomes a study of 
the real life and growth of the nation by becoming a direct 
study of cause and effect. This makes the study of history 
easy, interesting and valuable. The division of the nation's 
history into periods, the division of each period into topics, and 
the continuous discussion of each topic give the pupil a much 
more valuable idea of time relation than does the chronological- 
event method of treatment. 

No part of the method and nature of work provided for in 
this book still remains an experiment. During the past seven 
years the topics and questions in this history have been care- 
fully developed and worked out in the schools of California. 
These questions and topics constitute a "Teacher's Manual and 
Course of Study in History and Civics." This manual, which 
is a teacher's book of about three hundred pages, is the regular 
official course in history and civics for more than half the pu- 
pils in the seventh and eighth grades of the public elementary 
schools of that state. Superintendents estimate that the value 
of the work in history and civics in the schools using these 
topics and questions and this method of work has increased 
more than a hundred per cent. This text is the expansion of 
that manual into a complete grammar school history in which 
the pupil will find ample text-book material so arranged and 
of such nature as to aid directly in the proper topical study 
of history and civics. 

Government and the Other Four Institutions. — The use of 
this volume as a text-book makes a separate study of civil gov- 
ernment and the use of a separate text-book on civics unnec- 
essarv. The treatment of government is ample for all elemen- 
tary school purposes. This suliject is made a real part of the 
history work. This is of much value to the grammar school 
pupil, because it enables him to see the close relation which ex- 
ists between history and government, and thus gives him a 
nmch better preparation for the actual duties of citizenship than 
he could receive from a separate study of civics. Throughout 
the entire book, the principles, the growth, and the formal side 
of government have been most carefully developed. The study 



Explanatory and Suggestive xi 

of this volume, therefore, in adchtion to giving^ the pupil a 
knowledge of the formal organization of government, will en- 
able him to understand the growth and the value of the prin- 
ciples of government. In this connection constant regard has 
been had to leading the pupil to see clearly the duties of citizen- 
ship, and thus to enable the public school system to accomplish 
its most important function, — the making of good, efficient 
citizens. 

The other four institutions — business, or industrial condi- 
tions; society, or social conditions; the church, or religion; and 
the school, or education — ^^have received as careful treatment 
as has the institution of government. The careful considera- 
tion given the five institutions is one of the most valuable as 
well as one of the most unique features of this book. If the 
study of political science in the elementary schools should be 
one thing more than another, it should be a study of the real 
life, feelings and aspirations of the people. Too long have 
teachers and pupils been compelled to feed on the dry husks of 
history and civics. 

Questions and Topics. — The nature of a pupil's work on a 
subject will soon be determined by the questions asked him dur- 
ing the recitation and during the special and general reviews. 
Only questions bringing out the more important features of the 
topic, and directly aiding a logical development of the subject, 
should be asked. The preparation of such questions requires 
much time and a great deal of hard work. In order to assist 
the teacher in this important and difficult matter, questions have 
been prepared for class recitations, for the review of each topic, 
and for the general review of the year's work. Closely related 
to this subject of questions is another matter that is of great 
importance in elementary education. The school work on most 
subjects is injured because teachers do not have a definite idea 
as to the nature of the work that boards of education and su- 
perintendents desire. If the examinations for promotion and 
graduation are not entirely in the hands of the teacher, this 
lack of a definite idea as to the nature of the work required be-_ 
comes of still more impf)rtance. Teachers have learned by ex- 
perience that many of the (juestions asked are purely memory 



xii Explanatory and Suggestive 

questions aiul have very little relation to qood. thorough work. 
This frequently leads them to prepare pupils for such exam- 
inations, which is worse than a waste of time. It is suggested, 
therefore, that where a teacher h.as not entire charge of promo- 
tion and graduation, she and her pupils be given to understand 
that all the examination questions will be selected froiu those 
found in this book, and that the eighth-grade examinations will 
not include any of the seventh-graile (juestions. If the teacher 
has entire charge of promotion and graduation, she and her 
pupils should mulerstand that the work required, boili as to 
nature and scope, is that intlicated by the (piestions in this 
book, and that nothing less than the careful working out of 
these questions will be accepted. This method will secure the 
concentration of the teacher's and pupil's time on the essential 
features of American history, and will secure a logical devel- 
opment of the subject. Most of the questions are thought ques- 
tions, and if the pupil can give a good discussion of each, he 
will have secured much value from his work in history and 
civics. 

These questions, as stated above, have been thoroughly 
tested in actual class work. They consist of three general 
classes, — Questions for Class Recitations. Questions for Com- 
positions and Examinations, and Subjects for- Special Study 
and General Review. The Subjects for Special Study and 
General Review are placed at the end of the seventh-grade 
work and at the end of the eighth-grade work. They may 
constitute the general review in history and civics for each 
of these grades. The pupil should have ample time for the 
study of these review subjects, and when engaged in pre- 
paring his written discussions of the same he should be per- 
mitted free access to this book and to other available material. 
The Questions for Compositions and Examinations are usually 
placed at the end of the main subtopics. The preparation of 
the answers to these questions may constitute the review of 
those topics, but in addition to the use of this group of ques- 
tions for purposes of regular or formal reviews they should be 
studied thoroughly as soon as they are reached, and be tuade the 
basis of recitations the same as are the regular class-recitation 



Explanatory and Suggestive xiii 

questions. The examination questions for promotion and grad- 
tiation should be taken, as a rule, from this ^rouj) of (juestions. 
The Questions for Class Recitations are for the daily recitations. 
While the pupil should work out these cpiestions carefully when 
studying' the lesson, it does not follow by any means that they 
shouUl be followed closely during- the recitation for the dis- 
cussions at that time will frequently call for many additional 
questions, and for a variation of those here given. 

The Recitation. — The success of school work in any subject 
depentls largely on the nature of the recitation. The first 
thing necessary to a good recitation is the proper assignment 
of the lesson. It is always valuable to interest the pupil in a 
topic before asking him to begin work on the same. This 
requires a knowledge of the subject on the part of the teacher 
and the time and ability to create that interest. While it will 
be an excellent thing for the teacher to do this when assigning 
the topics in this book, each topic has been discussed and de- 
veloped on the supposition that she has not the time for its 
oral presentation. In ortler to accomplish this important re- 
sult, great care has been taken in the treatment and discussion 
of each topic. In this connection the method of study becomes 
of the utmost importance. The first work on one of the gen- 
eral topics should be a very careful study of the outline which 
precedes that topic. When beginning work on one of the sub- 
topics of the general topic, or period, the pupil should note 
carefully the relation of this subtopic to the other subtopics 
of the general topic. It is deemed very important that the 
pupil see clearly the logical relation and connection which 
exists between the subjects studied. After the pupil sees this 
relation clearly, he should read the complete discussion of the 
subtopic, but he should do this reading without any thought 
whatever of preparing for a recitation. The first work on a 
topic, therefore, should be the careful study of its outline, and 
the reading of the entire discussion of that topic. After this 
has been done, the study of the questions should be taken 
up. The pupil should be given to understand distinctly that 
when the time for the class recitation arrives he must be 
prepared to answer every question bearing on the topic as- 



xiv Explanatory and Suggestive 

siiitiod for that recitation. This will insure the careful read- 
iiii^- aiul study of each topic, and will secure the special stiuly 
of the inipiMtaut features of that tojiic. When recitin«;- the 
pupil should he required to stand and to s;i\e a full and com- 
plete tliscussion of the question under consideration, and noth- 
iuii' less than a clear and los^ical discussion of a question should 
ever he accepted. This cultivates contkleuce in the pupil and 
causes him to make ample preparation for the recitation. 

If the sui^^estions made in the last paragraph he carried out. 
this book will practically teach itself, and with most satisfactory 
results to the pupil. .\ny additional discussions which the 
teacher may t;ive. or may iuiluce pupils {o give, will make the 
work just so nmch more valuable. 

Books. — The topics which have been selected for study are 
j;iven a more complete discussiiiu in this book than in any other 
jirammar sclmol histor\ . The iliscussions contain ample luate- 
rial for ausweriui;- all the questions asked. While this tuakes 
it luuiecessary for pupils to use anv other text as a reference, 
they shoidd read some uuiterial that will enable them to un- 
derstaiul still more clearly the real life and feelini;s oi the 
pci^ple who lived iluriui^- the ditTerent ]XTiods of our history, 
b'or this purpose there are no other bix-iks that approach in 
merit Harts "Source Reailers in .\mericau History." There 
are four of these readers. — "Colonial Children." "Camps and 
Firesides of the Revolution." "How Our Ci rand fathers Lived." 
and "Romance of the Civil War." The material in each 
reader consists entirely of the writings of the men and women 
who lived during the period of which that reader treats. This 
enables the pupil, at least to some extent, to see things and 
to feel about things that took place theii. as these men and 
wvMuen saw and felt. In order to have the material in these 
readers better suited to grammar school work, the spelling and 
language of some of the selections have beeti slightly changed, 
but in every case the thought has been retained. Tt is strongly 
urged that "Colonial Children" and "Caiups and Firesides of 
the Revolution" be read in cotuiection with the seventh-grade 
work, and that "How Our Crandfathers Lived" and "Romance 
of the Civil War" be read in connectiiMi with the eighth-grade 



Explanatory and Suggestive xv 

work. T( is siiqi^ostod lli.it tlu'sr finir i^oadors be made a pait 
of the suhjcot-nialtci- of the roi;ular rradius;' course for those 
two i^ratlos. Tupils Innl tlioso hooks as intorcstitii;" as a novel. 
There should he in each library for the use of the teacher 
several more ad\ anced worlds on American history. The teacher 
should have access to not less than "American History toUl by 
Contem]ioraries." by Hart; "History of the United States" in 
the Cambriilme Modern History Series; and I'iske's "'iMie 
Discovery of America," "Old \'ir_L;inia and ller Neighbors," 
"The Hciiinninos of New Knc'land." "The nnlcli and Quaker 
Colonies in America," "The AmiM"ican Revolution," "The Crit- 
ical Period oi American llistorx', IIS;'^- 1 7S!)." Man\- ini]Mls 
will be interested in these b(^oks, es]")eciall\- in those by iMske. 
The teacher mav lind ni\- "Tc\icher's Manual and Cotu'se of 
Study in llistory and Civics" oi considerable assistance. It is 
a book of about three hundred pa.<;es, and contains the sanie 
topics and ([uestions contained in this bool<, but the discussions 
of the topics are brief. These brief discussions often prove 
valuable to the busy teacher when preparing- for the recitation. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface v 

Explanatory and Suggestive ix 

Illustrations xxiii 

Maps xxvii 

Introductory 1 

Conditions Favoral)le to the Discovery of America 2 

Ancient Ideas of tlie World 2 

False Ideas of the World not due to Lack of Civiliza- 
tion 2 

Conditions in Ancient Europe hindering Exploration. 3 

Conditions leading to Exploration 3 

Discoveries and Explorations 8 

Spanish Discoveries and Explorations 8 

English Discoveries and Explorations 13 

French Discoveries and Explorations 14 

Portuguese Discoveries and Explorations 16 

Dutch Discoveries and Explorations 17 

Disposition of Territory in the New World 17 

Decline of Spanish Power 19 

Spain's Early Supremacy on the Sea 19 

Defeat of the Spanish Armada: Rise of English Sea 

Power 10, 20 

The American Indian 21 

Origin of the Name 21 

Classification according to Civilization 21 

Appearance and Manner of Living 24 

Character 25 

Qiicstifliis and Tollies 25 

The Thirteen Colonies 29 

Origin, Growth, and Political History 29 

The Southern Colonies 32 

The New England Colonies 44 

The Middle ColoJiies 06 

Questions and Topics 76 

2 . X- ii 



xviii Contents 

PAGE 

Tlio I-'rciicli in North Aiiu-rica 83 

Tlie Spanisli in America 815 

French Explorations and Settienients 8:> 

Contrast of French and English Colonies as to Tur- 

pose of Settlement 84 

Relations of the French with the Indians S(> 

Early Conflicts between the hVench and the F.njrlish. S',) 

The French and Indian War 9:2 

Questions (i;/(/ Toffirs 101 

Institutional Life in the Colonies 104 

Introductory 107 

Industrial Conditions Ill 

Social CoTulitions ' 138 

Government 153 

Religion ITl 

Education 17(> 

Ourslious (J»</ Toffies 187 

Origin of Amkrkan Institi'tions 107 

American Institutions: Changes in and from where de- 
rived lOS 

Government in England 19i) 

Transfer of English Rights and Institutions to America.. 30() 

Questions and Toffies 307 

TuK .\mf.kuan Revolution 300 

Causes and IU\ginnings 311 

Causes oi the Revolution 311 

Beginnings of the Revolution 333 

Campaigns 34;> 

Xature and Object oi tlie Throe Campaigns planned 

by the Hritish 343 

The Campaign to separate New England from the 
Other States, and the Campaign against Phila- 
delphia and the Middle States 344 

The Campaign against the Southern States 3(il 

The Closing Events of the War 3t>7 

QiiiStions ivui Tof<ics 370 

The Critical Period ~~'> 

The Nature oi the National Government 370 

The Northwest Territory; The Ordinance of 1787 377 

Condition of Monev, I'usiness. and Ciuninerce 370 



Contents xix 

PAGE 

Anarchy ami Rohollioii 281 

The ConstitutitMial Convention 281 

TIic Constitution 288 

Ratification ot' tlic Constitution 294 

Organization of tlio New Ciovcrnincut 21)0 

(JidStioiis and Topics 297 

National C.uowtii and luKorKAN Tntkkfkkknck :iOO 

lutroihu-lory :502 

'riic rorioil of l''uropi.'an 1 ntcrfiTcncc :>(';> 

Origin of .\nu'rican Noutralit_\- in iMn^ipran Affairs... .'SOo 

The Jay 'i'roaly ' :i07 

The Broach with franco :i09 

The Alien and Sedition .\cls 311 

The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions 313 

The Purchase of l.iniisiana 311 

European Interference with .\nierican Conmierce. . . . lilti 
The War of 1812, or the War for Ctnnniercial Inde- 
pendence 320 

The Hartford Ctnivention 328 

Purchase of Florida 329 

The Monroe Doctrine 330 

End of the Periotl of I'-uroiu-an Interference 332 

Financial Legislation : The Tariff ' 332 

Hamilton's ]'"inancial Measures 332 

Jefferson and Gallatin's Financial Policy 337 

The United States Bank and State Banks 338 

Tariff Legislation 338 

Political I'artios 340 

Rise of Political Parties 340 

The Federalist Party: Its Rise and Fall 342 

The Republican Party: Its Rise and Fall 343 

Growth of the Nation 345 

Growth in Territory and Population 345 

Movement of Population: Causes and Direction 345 

Results of Westward ICxpansion 317 

Growth of National Unity 3."il 

Institutional Life 353 

Industrial Conditions 353 

Social Conditions 361 

Government 362 



\\ 



C\>ntcMits 



KrliKiim 

l"'iliu";itii>n 



•AUK 



Wl.SrWAKIl IvXPANSItlN AND Sl.AVKKY 

Tlu" Mr.iniiiK (if jaoksdii's I'.loctioii 

r.ililicil Mclli.i.ls ;iiul I'olilio.il I'.iitios 

r..liluMl NK-lli.uls 

I'lililu-.il r.irlii's 

l'"iii.iiiri.il 1 ci; islatiiMi : 'Tlu' 'TafilT 

I'll.' I'.mir 

nrsdiu-lum «i|' ilu" National I'.ank 

Tlic I'anu- ol is:!r 

Tln" I luK-iu'iuliMit or Sitl>lii'asur\- Sxsii'm. 
("Irowlli of iho Natio\i in Trnitory and I'opulalion 

riu- (troi;("m Territory 

Annexation of Texas 

Tlie Mexican War 

(iiowili in 'I'tMiitoiy and ropulatiou: The I'aoilu 

I'oa^t 

Tlie Sla\cry Question 

I "olid 1 1 ions alVeel ini; the (Irowth of Shivery 

Rise of the Alioht ionists 

The I oniproniise of IS."iO 

The Kansas-Nebraska iiill 

Tlie hred Seott heeision 

The 1 .ineohi-l')onKhis Oel^ates 

'Idle I'deetion of I ineoln 

l\evie\\ and (."oneliisions 

Institutional 1 ife 

Iiuhistrial Ctuulitioiis 

Social roiulilioiis 

(lovernnuMit 

Kelii;ion 

I'Miication 

{.hirsliiuts' (Mil/ 7\>/'(Va" 



liu- Amkkiian Civu W \k 

Ivesonrces of ilie North and the South 

(.\>nMiianders. Military Supplies. and Availalile 

Soldiers 

Means of 'l"ransi>iMtatioii : l-"inancial and Industrial 
l\esinirces 



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XXI 



Si'cossions .iiiil nci;iimiii.!.',> 

SiH'Ossinii Iroin llu- I 'i nisi il in uMi.i I St ,iinl|i( uiil 

Tlu- N;iMir;il kii;lil .>! Ki\ .ilnln m 

Si'Oi'ssioii ;iinl I'lUiii.itioii (i| llic ( Diiliili'iaOv 

'rill' I'.ill ><i I''. Ml SnmU'i 

'I'lir r.,illlr ..I Hull Kiiii 



C .imp.nv.iis 

I 111 rotliuMoiy 

Si'dpc .111(1 Nature nl (, 'ani|iai.i-',iis MciIiimI .i| 'I'ri'at 

llU'lll 

'I'lir I'.isii'ni ( 'aiiipai)4n 

riic Wislnii ( ainiiaiKii 

llu- C'aiupaij'.n <>! I sr. I (;:> • 

•I'lic Work ..I llu- \a\'v ^ 

I'.locka.lc ol the Soiitlicni I'lirls ' 

( 'i uiiiiu'iri' I K'sl I ii\ I'l s 

1\<'\ ulul h m; III Na\al Warlair ", , 

Results 

(Jui\ilii>ii.<! mill Td/^irs 



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Kelalion ol the ( '. -ii I e.leia t e Slates to tlie National 

( io\('i nnieiil . 

'I'lie 1 >ealli ol I iiieolii : II is ( 'liaraeUT and \l>ilii\ . . 

'I'lie Uei'i>nstriiel ion I'oliev ol Jolmson , 

Tlie I'teeonst nut loll I'oIun ol (dn.mess 

Some Kesults ol Keeonsl i net loii 

Tolilieal Methods and I'olitieal I'arlies 

I'olllUMl M.'lllo.l- 

Tolitieal Tallies 

I'lnanelal and Indnstrial l.ei;islalioii 

I'lnaiii'ial l.e^islation • 

Tai ill I .e,L', isia t ion 

I ndiisl I lal ( 'oinlnnal ions 

l'"oreij.'n Rid a I ions ' 

I 'nicdiase i >! A la ska 

Treat >■ ol \\'as|iiiii.;| on 

Application ol ilic Monroe l)octriiie 

( lidw 111 ol \rlnlralicni 

'Idle Spanish Aineriran War i 

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507 
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510 
512 



xxii Contents 



PAGE 

Institutional Life 514 

Industrial Conditions 514 

Social Conditions 522 

Education 523 

Questions and Tallies 527 

Appendix: 

Declaration of Independence i 

Constitution of the United States v 

Dates of Admission, Areas and Populations of the States 
and Territories of the United States xx 

Index xxii 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

The Capitol at Washington — East Front Frontispiece 

I'AGE 

Mediterranean Merchant Vessel of the Time of Columbus 5 

The Fleet of Columbus 7 

Columbus 8 

Northmen on a Voyage 9 

Magellan 12 

De Soto's Discovery of the ]\Iississippi 13 

La Salle 16 

The Spanish Armada attacked by the English Ships 20 

An Indian Encampment 22 

An Indian Village of Another Tribe 23 

Captain John Smith ' 35 

Quarrel Between Bacon and Berkeley 38 

George Calvert, Lord Baltimore 39 

Oglethorpe 43 

The Landing of the Pilgrims 46 

Roger Williams 49 

John Endicott 57 

Governor Andros .... tt 63 

Henry Hudson's Vessel, the Half Moon, m the Hudson River. . 67 

Peter Stuyvesant 69 

The Battery, New York, in the Seventeenth Century 70 

Penn making a Treaty with the Indians 73 

The Opening Lines of the Pennsylvania Charter 74, 75 

Champlain 84 

An Early French Fort 85 

Champlain's Attack on an Iroquois Fort 87 

Early French Fur-traders on a Canadian River 88 

The Fortress of Louisburg 91 

Montcalm 96 

William Pitt : 97 

Quebec in 1759 99 

Wolfe 100 

Charleston at the Time of the Revolution 113 

Tobacco Rolling 115 

John Winthrop's Mill, New London, Connecticut 117 

zxiii 



xxiv Illustrations 

PAGE 

Jonathan Edwards 124 

Patrick Henry 127 

Colonial Mansion 129 

Slave Quarters on a Carolina Rice Plantation 134 

A Garden of Colonial Days 137 

The Kitchen of a Plantation Mansion 139 

Wealthy Southerners — Their Costumes and Manners 141 

A Salem Schoolhouse with Whipping-post in the Near Street.. 144 

Spinning Wheel .' 149 

Foot Stove 150 

Old State House, Philadelphia 152 

Faneuil Hall 155 

William Penn 168 

Puritan Service in Plymouth Church 173 

Pohick Church, r^Iount Vernon, \'irginia 174 

An Old Log Schoolhouse 178 

Frontispiece to an Old Spelling Book 182 

Benjamin Franklin 185 

King Charles I 201 

King John 203 

Facsimile of Portion of Magna Charta 204 

Houses of Parliament 205 

Tablet commemorating Boston Tea Part}' 220 

Samuel Adams 226 

Battle of Lexington 229 

Battle of Bunker Hill 232 

King George HI 237 

The Declaration of Independence — Facsimile of JefTerson's 

Original Draft 239 

Washington's Retreat from Long Island 247 

Lafayette 256 

John Paul Jones 258 

On the March with George Rogers Clark 259 

Nathaniel Greene 264 

The Surrender of Cornwallis 268 

James Madison 284 

Signing of the Constitution. September 17, 1787 288 

Chief Justice John Marshall 291 

George Washington 304 

John Adams 310 

Thomas Jefiferson 317 

Daniel Webster 321 

William Henry Harrison 323 

The Battle of New Orleans 326 

James Monroe 331 



Illustrations xxv 

PAGE 

Alexander Hamilton 334 

A Flatboat on the Ohio 346 

An Early Pioneer Settlement in Kentucky , 348 

The Erie Canal 349 

The First Cotton Gin 355 

The First Trip of Fulton's Boat, the Clermont, September, 1807. ..357 

The Wayside Inn 358 

Stagecoach of 1828 359 

Scene at a Fire in 1800 360 

Old South Church, Boston 362 

The University of Virginia, as designed by Thomas Jefferson.. ..303 

Washington Irving 364 

Andrew Jackson 377 

John Quincy Adams 382 

IMillard Fillmore ' 383 

Zachary Taylor 384 

Facsimile of the Exposition and Protest 386 

John C. Calhoun 380 

]\Iedal of Jackson destroying the Bank 380 

Martin Van Buren 392 

Lewis and Clark in Council with the Indians .394 

John Tyler 396 

James K. Polk 398 

Scott's Entrance into the City of Mexico 399 

An Emigrant Train 401 

Henry Clay 406 

Franklin Pierce 407 

The Supreme Court Chamber 410 

An Early Railroad Train 418 

Samuel F. B. Morse 420 

Elias Howe 421 

The First McCormick Reaper 422 

Street Scene in New York City in 1S59 425 

Edgar Allan Poe ". . . 429 

Nathaniel Hawthorne 430 

James Russell Lowell 431 

Abraham Lincoln 445 

Jefferson Davis 451 

James Buchanan 452 

Bombardment of Fort Sumter 453 

Robert E. Lee 458 

Facsimile of Portion of Emancipation Proclamation 461 

Scene at Battle of Gettysburg 463 

Ulysses S. Grant 467 

Farragut in Mobile Bay 469 



xxvi Illustrations 

PAGE ) 

The McLean House, Appomattox 477 j 

The Fight between the Monitor and the Mcrrimac .481 

Andrew Johnson 492 

A Sample Australian Ballot 498 

Chester A. Arthur 499 

James A. Garfield 500 

Inauguration of a President 501 

Rutherford B. Hayes 502 

Benjamin Harrison 503 

William McKinley 504 

McKinley's Home at Canton, Ohio 505 

Grover Cleveland 509 

Theodore Roosevelt 510 

Admiral George Dewey 511 

San Juan Blockhouse, showing Marks of Shot 512 

Panama Canal in Construction 513 

A Cotton Factory in Alabama 520 

City Hall. San Francisco 521 

Shipbuilding on the Pacific Coast 522 

INIain Waiting Room, Immigration Building, New York City... 523 
Horace Greeley 524 



MAPS 

PAGE 

The World as known before the Time of Columbus 4 

Trade Routes between Europe and Asia at time of Columbus. 6 

The World, showing Routes of Explorers 11 

North America, showing Early Discoveries, Explorations and 

Routes of Explorers 15 

Disposition of Territory in the New World 18 

Distribution of Indian Tribes in North America 22 

Territory granted to Virginia Company and its Two Branches 33 
The Southern Colonies just before the French and Indian 

War Facing 42 

The New England Colonics just before the French and 

Indian War Facing 50 

The Middle Colonies just before the French and Indian 

War Facing 72 

The Thirteen Colonies and the French Claims Facing 84 

Campaigns and Battles of the French and Indian War 93 

Relief Map of Eastern United States 110 

Region of Large Plantations and Slave Population 131 

Boston and Vicinity 227 

Campaigns in the Middle Colonies 245 

The Southern Campaigns in the Revolution 262 

Claims and Cessions Facing 278 

The United States in 1803 Facing 316 

The United States in 1828 Facing 347 

The United States in 1850 Facing 395 

Territorial Acquisitions, 1783-1853 Facing 400 

The United States, 1860 Facing 408 

Eastern Campaign, Civil War 460 

Western Campaign. Civil War 405 

Campaign of 1864-1865 474 

The United States in 1900 Facing 508 

The World with Special Reference to United States 

Betzveen 512, 513 

xxvii 



INTRODUCTORY 



COLUMBUS 

Behind him lay the gray Azores, 

Behind the Gates of Hercules; 
Before him not the ghost of shores, 

Before him only shoreless seas. 
The good mate said: "Now we must pray, 

For, lo! the very stars are gone. 
Brave Admiral, speak; what shall I say?" 

■"Why say. "Sail on! sail On! and on!'" 

"My men grow mutinous day by day; 

My men grow ghastly wan and weak." 
The stout mate thought of home; a spray 

Of salt wave washed his swarthv cheek. 
"What shall I say. brave Admiral, say. 

If we sight naught but seas at dawn?" 
"Why you shall say at break of day. 

"Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!'" 

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow. 

Until at last the blanched mate said: 
"Why, now not even God would know 

Should I and all my men fall dead. ' 

These very winds forget their way. 

For God from these dread seas is gone. 
Now speak, brave Admiral; speak and say" — 

He said, "Sail on! sail on! and on!" 

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: 

"This mad sea shows its teeth to-night. 
He curls his lips, he lies in wait 

^^'ith lifted teeth, as if to bite! 
Brave .\dmiral. say but one good word; 

What shall we do when hope is gone?" 
The \yords leapt like a leaping sword: 

"Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!" 

Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck. 

And peered through darkness. Ah, that ni?ht 
Of all dark nights! And then a speck — 

A light! A light! A light! A light! 
It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! 

It grew to be Time's burst of dawn. 
He gained a world; he gave that world 

Its grandest lesson: "On! sail on!" 

— Joaquin Miller 
Copyri(jht by The Mhitaker if Ray Co. 



INTRODUCTORY 

CONDITIONS FAVORABLE TO THE DISCOVERY OF 
AMERICA 

I. Ancient Ideas of the World 
II. False Ideas of the World not Due to Lack of Civilization 
III. Conditions in Ancient Europe Hindering Exploration 
T\'. Conditions Leading to Exploration 

1. Advance in Education and Civilization 

2. Increasing Importance of Commerce 

3. Need of New Trade Routes 

DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 

I. Spanish Discoveries and Explorations 

1. Work of Columbus 

2. Other Spanish Explorers 

II. English Discoveries and Explorations 

III. French Discoveries and Explorations 

IV. Portuguese Discoveries and Explorations 
\'. Dutch Discoveries and Explorations 

DISPOSITION OF TERRITORY IN THE NEW WORLD 

I._ Right of Discovery 
II. English Territorial Grants 

DECLINE OF SPANISH POWER 

I. Spain's Early Supremacy on the Sea 
II. Defeat of the Spanish Armada 
III. Rise of English Sea Power 

THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

I. Origin of Name 
II. Classification according to Civilization 

1. The Savage Indians 

2. The Barbarous Indians 

3. The Half-civilized Indians 

III. Appearance and Manner of Living 

IV. Character 



Introductory 



CONDITIONS FAVORABLE TO THE DISCOVERY OF 

AMERICA 

1. Ancient Ideas Concerning the World. — Although the 
New World has existed and has been inhabited by mankind 
and by the lower animals for many thousands of years, it was 
totally unknown to the people of the Old World until a little 
more than foiir hundred years ago. For more than six thou- 
sand years the people of Europe believed that the earth was 
flat, and that it was covered with water except that part occu- 
pied by Europe, Asia, and Africa. They had no idea that 
North America, South America and Australia existed. They 
did not even know how large Asia and Africa were. Some of 
them were acquainted with western Asia and northern Africa, 
but they did not know how far these continents extended. 
Marco Polo and a few others had visited China and had heard 
of Japan, but this was all that the people of Europe knew of 
eastern Asia, and they knew still less about southern Africa. 
Although great civilized nations had existed around the shores 
of the Mediterranean Sea for probably more than six thousand 
years, the people of these nations thought that the earth was 
many times smaller than it is. They believed that there was 
nothing but darkness and terrors beyond the small part which 
they knew about, and that evil spirits and great monsters would 
destroy any one who ventured into this unknown space. 

2. False Ideas not Due to Lack of Civilization. — The 
wrong idea which the people of Europe had for so many 
thousand years regarding the extent of the land and the shape 
of the earth was not due to lack of a high state of civiHzation. 
The people of Greece more than twenty-three humlred years 
ago, and the people of Rome more than two thousand years 
ago, were much better educated than were the people of Europe 
four hundred vears ago, when Columbus discovered the New 
World. The civilization which these ancient Greeks and Ro- 
mans developed excelled in many ways the civilization which 
existed in Europe during the time of Columbus. The litera- 
ture, the sculpture, and the fine, noble buildings produced by 



Conditions favorable to Discovery 3 

them have never yet been excelled, and in some things along 
these lines we cannot do as well as was done in ancient Greece 
and Rome. 

3. Conditions Hindering Discoveries and Explorations. — 
While the great mass of the people of Europe at the time the 
New World was discovered were not so intelligent in many re- 
spects as were the Greeks and Romans, they lived under con- 
ditions which would cause them to think more about the ex- 
tent of the land and the shape of the earth, and hence they 
would naturally have a greater desire to find out the truth 
about these matters. The Greeks and Romans occupied the 
peninsulas of Greece and Italy, which together are not as 
large as the state of Texas, and less than one twenty-seventh as 
large as the rest of Europe. Half-civilized people lived in all 
the other parts of Europe except those parts conquered by 
Rome. The Greeks and Romans were kept busy defending 
themselves against these people, and were finally compelled 
to submit to them. They had all they could do to learn about 
Europe and the other continents around the Alediterranean 
Sea, without trying to explore the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, 
and they seem to have had no desire to do so. Aristotle, a 
Greek philosopher who lived twenty-two hundred years ago, 
believed that the earth was round and that eastern Asia could 
be reached by sailing west from western Europe. Some other 
philosophers who lived between the time of Aristotle and the 
discovery of America had the same idea ; but the people of 
Greece and Rome, and later those in the rest of Europe, were 
too busy with affairs and conditions in the Old World to think 
seriously about these ideas, or to attempt to put them into 
practice by sailing west over the Atlantic Ocean. 

4. Conditions Leading to Explorations: (a) Advance 
in Bducation and Civilisation. — It was quite different a little 
more than four hundred years ago when the New World was 
discovered. More people lived in Europe then than ever be- 
fore, and through natural advancement and the influence of 
Greek and Roman laws, literature, and ideas, all Europe had 
become civilized. Having occupied all of Europe, having be- 
come more intelligent and progressive, it was but natural that 




-MM!. I!il :i i|il 



!!. 1"" iii!iiiiini><;iiii!iiii>i^-': '"^ i 



Conditions favorable to Discovery 



many of the practical and educated men, as well as the phil- 
osophers, should ask themselves the question, — What lies be- 
yond the waters? This desire to know more about the size 
and shape of the earth, together with the improvement in 
ship-building' and the practical use of the compass for the pur- 
poses of navigation, would soon have led to the exploration 
of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and to the discovery of 
America, even if the condition of commerce which is discussed 
below had not made business men extremely anxious to secure 
some new way by which they could reach the rich products Qf 
India and eastern Asia. 

(b) I)icrcasiug Iniporfancc of Coiiuiicrcc. — During the time 
of the Roman Empire, northern Europe was inhabited by the 
Germanic tribes, who were then 
barbarians. Beginning about 260 
A. D. and extending down to nearly 
noo A. D., these barbarians overran 
the Roman Empire. While Greece 
and Rome before this time had 
traded a great deal with Asia, the 
invasions from the north gave 
civilization a setback and de- 
stroyed this commerce. It was 
not until about seven hundred 
years ago that the people of 
Europe again became settled in 
well-organized governments. They 
gradually became civilized and 
educated and better acquainted 
with Asia and its products. The 
merchants of Europe began to 
trade the woods, metals, and other 
things produced there to the people of Asia for the spices, 
pearls, silks, gems, and other things which the latter produced. 
By 1400 A. D. this trade had increased until it constituted a 
great commerce or interchange of products between the peoples 
of Europe and Asia. Great commercial cities grew up whose 
prosperity depended largely on this commerce. Venice and 



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Medtterranean Merchant 
Vessel of the Time of 

Columbus 



Introductorv 



Genoa wore two of the most important of these cities, and 
their merchants carried on an immense trade with Asia. From 
the commercial cities on the coast the rich prodncts of Asia 
were sent inland to the different parts of Europe, and naturally 
there was an increasinq; demand for these comforts and luxu- 
ries. 

(c) Need of Xew Trade Routes. — The goods which Eu- 
rope sent to Asia and which .^sia sent to Europe had to be 
carried by ships and by caravans over one of thrfee routes. 




These routes were by way of the Black and Caspian seas, and 
thence overland to India; across Syria to the Persian Gulf, 
and thence by ship to India ; and by way of Egypt to the Red 
Sea, and thence by ship to India. Now it so happened that 
the Turks, during the time that this trade between Europe 
and Asia was increasing, were gradually overrunning the 
western part of Asia, which included the territory over which 
these trade routes passed. The Turks made it a regular busi- 
ness to capture the caravans conveying these goods, and to 



Conditions favorable to Discovery 7 

murder those in charge. By 1490 they had ahiiost destroyed 
this great commerce. It became necessary, therefore, for the 
people of Europe to give up tliis trade, or to find some new 
route over which the goods might be conveyed. This caused 
merchants and sailors to give the question of finding a new 
route serious consideration. Some maintained that, if the earth 




The Fleet of Columbus 



were round, eastern Asia could be reached by sailing west 
from Europe. Among this number was Christopher Colum- 
bus. Other men had philosophized about the earth's being 
round, but Columbus was the first to test the correctness of 
this theory. On the third day of August, 1493, with three 
small ships and ninety men, he set sail from Palos, Spain, bid- 
ding good-by to the known world, sailing out into the unknown 
seas, and facing the terrors which superstition had for ages 
planted in the mind of man. It was an act as brave as his- 



8 



Introductory 



tory records. The trackless ocean was his highway; faith in p. 
scientific theory liis "uidinu' star. 




Cul.lMIU 



DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 

5. Spanish Discoveries and Explorations: (a) JJ'ork of 
Colionbus. — On the eveninij of October 11. seventy days after 
leaving Palos, Cohinibus came in sight of one of the West India 
Islands, a member of tlie Bahama group. Before returning to 



Discoveries and Explorations 9 

Spain he discovered Cuba and Hayti. Although he made three 
other voyages to the New World, and discovered the mainland 
of South America and explored the coast of Honduras, he be- 
lieved that he had discovered Asia, and was very much surprised 
and disappointed because he could not find the rich cities and 
products of that country. He died without knowing that he 
had discovered a new world ; and if he had known this fact, he 
would, perhaps, have been still more disappointed. He had his 
heart set on findine- a short and safe route to the rich commerce 




Northmen on a Voyage 

of India, and so had the people of Europe. They were sorely 
disappointed because he was not successful, and iiermilted him 
to die neglected, poor, and heart-broken. Like that of many 
other great men. his work was appreciated only b}- succeeding" 
generations. 

The discovery of America ranks as the greatest geographical 
discovery in history, because it opened up a new world. And 
the world has given Columbus the credit. It is true that ad- 
venturous sailors from Norway, Sweden and Denmark — called 



lO Introductory 

the Xorse. or Xorthmcn — visited the northeastern shores of 
America about nine hundred years ago. They had settlements 
in Iceland and Greenland, anil would occasionally cross Davis's 
Strait to the mainland of Xorth America, which they considered 
a part of I'.urope. There is no eviilence to show that they ever 
made a sottlemeiu on this continent. Their visits to the main- 
land soon ceaset-l. and the land and these early voyages were for- 
gotten by the sailors. About one hundred years later the scholars 
of the northern countries reduced the story of these voyages 
to writing, but even these writings were forgotten, and the 
rest of Europe did not hear o\ the Xorse voyages until after 
Columbus hail discovered the New World: so they had no in- 
fluence whatever in leading" up to the real discovery of America, 
nor did they affect the later history of this continent. In no 
way can they deprive Ct">lumbus of his hard-earned fame as the 
world's greatest discoverer. 

(b) Other Sf'unish E.vf'lorcrs. — The Spanish discovered 
and explored most of the West Indian Islands. Florida, the 
southwestern part of the I'nited States. Mexico. Central 
America, and all of South America except Brazil. The prin- 
cipal Spanish explorers whose work had any direct relation 
to the I'nited States, or to determining the extent and shape 
c^f the earth, were Columbus. Ponce de Leon, Balboa. Magel- 
lan, and De Soto. 

Bonce de Leon was perhaps the first Spaniard to touch the 
mainland of what is now the I'nited States. He was in the 
l>ahamas auil heard of a huul to the northward, rich in gold 
and with a wonderful spring that would make an old man 
young again. He iletermined to explore the country about 
which he had heard such wonderful stories. Soon after set- 
ting sail the Spanish came in sight of the coast, and as the 
day was Easter Sunday. Ponce de Leon called the new land 
Florida. He explored the country and a few years later re- 
turned with a number of men. intending to settle there. The 
hostile Indians and sickness among his men caused him to re- 
turn to Cuba, where he soon died of a wound received on this 
expedition. 




11 



12 



Introductory 



Balboa, another Spanish explorer, had accompanied one of 
the Spanish expeditions to Panama. He had trouble with his 
commander and soon became the leader of a small band of 
adventurers in search of i^old. One day while he was weigh- 
infj some gold an Indian chief struck the scales from his hand 
and made it known to him that a great sea lay beyond the 
mountains, the shores of which were rich in gold. Balboa im- 
mediately set out with his men, and on reaching the top of the 
mountains saw stretching out before him an endless sheet of 
water. He descended, and wading out into the ocean took 
possession of it in the name *of the king of Spain. He called 
it the South Sea. 

Magellan passed around 
South America and crossed 
the Pacific to India, giving 
the vast ocean over which 
he sailed its name. One of 
his five ships returned to 
Spain around South Africa. 
It was the first ship to sail 
around the world ; but its 
brave and able commander, 
Magellan, was killed by 
savages in the Philippine 
Islands. Magellan accom- 
plished what Columbus had 
failed to do — he discovered 
a sea route to India. But 
the distance was so great 
that it was of little value. 
Some time after Ponce de Leon had discovered Florida, De 
Soto with over five hundred men landed in Florida and started 
inland in search of gold. They discovered the Mississippi 
River and explored a portion of the southern part of the 
Mississippi \'alley. At length, worn out by toils and hard- 
ships, De Soto died on the banks of the great river. At night. 
in great secrecy, his body was sunk in its waters. This was 
to keep the Indians from learning of his death and securing 




Magellan 



Discoveries and Explorations 



13 



his body. All these Spanish discoveries and explorations were 
made between 1192 and 1542. 




De Soto's Discoveky 



,\h- 



6. English Discoveries and Explorations. — The Enf^lish 
discovered and explored the eastern part of North America 
from Florida to Canada. The principal English explorers were 
the Cabots, Drake, Gilbert, and Raleigh. 

Five years after Columbus discovered America, John Cabot, 
an Italian sailing an English ship, sailed across the Atlantic. 
He explored the eastern coast of North America from Lab- 
rador south to Cape Cod. or possibly farther. Not much is 
known of this voyage. About eighty years later Si'r Francis 



14 Introductory 

Drake be^i^an his explorations. He was the first Knc^lishman 
to sail around the world. He had received permission from 
Queen Elizabeth to attack Spanish merchant ships, and sail- 
ed for the South Pacific. He plundered towns in Chili and 
Teru, and captured treasure ships. Im-oui one ship he took 
over twenty tons of silver and eii;hty pounds of gold. Fear- 
ing that Spanish war ships were waiting for him in the Straits 
of Magellan, he decided to return home by going around the 
Cape of Good Hope. He first sailed u]) along the coast of 
North America probably as far as Alaska, and then across 
the T^acific and around Africa to England. 

Sir Humphrey Cilhert was the first l''ngiishman to altempt 
to settle in the New World. A glance at a map will show 
that a ship, sailing directly west from England will reach 
Labrador or Newfoundland. This part of North America is 
nuich colder than l^ngland, although no farther north, be- 
cause the Gulf Stream makes England's climate milder. Gil- 
bert did not know this when he sailed for the New World and 
attempted to si.art a colony in Newfoundland. The attempt 
was a failure, and the next year Sir Walter Raleigh was given 
])ermission to found a colony. He was wise enough to send 
out an exploring expedition. This expedition reported the 
region that is now North Carolina to lie the best suited for 
settlement. Several attempts were made, but all proved fail- 
ures. One little colony was entirely lost, and no one ever 
knew what happened to it. All these discoveries and explo- 
rations were niade between 1 l!>T and l.-)S9. 

7. French Discoveries and Explorations. — The French ex- 
plored the larger j^art of the Mississipj)! \'alley and the east- 
ern part of Canada, including the region of the Great Lakes. 
The principal explorers were Cartier, Champlain. Marquette, 
Joliet, and La Salle. 

Cartier explored the St. Lawrence and the adjoining coun- 
try as far as Montreal. \\'hcn he first entered the Gulf of 
St. Lawrence he thought at last he had found a water pas- 
sage through the continent that barred the way to India. On 
sailing farther inland on a later voyage he learned that it was 
the mouth of a river. Some time later Henry IV of France 



i6 



Introductory 



was anxious to have the French colonize in the New World. 
Amon^- those who made attempts was Champlain, a man of 
p^reat abihty. He explored the coast as far south as Cape 
Cod. Later he founded Quebec and discovered Lake Cham- 
plain and Lake Huron. 

The French were 
very active in their 
explorations. Two 
men, Marquette and 
Joliet. pushed west- 
ward to the head 
waters of the Missis- 
sippi and explored as 
far south as the 
Arkansas River. A 
year later La Salle 
completed the explor- 
ation of the Missis- 
sippi. He explored 
also the Ohio River, 
and Lakes Ontario, 
Erie, Huron, and 
Miclflgan. He took 
possession, in the 
name of France, of all the country drained by the ISIississippi 
and the Ohio and their tributaries, and named it Louisiana. 
In order to secure permanent possession of the country for 
France, La Salle attempted to plant a colony at the mouth of 
the Mississippi. While on his way to Canada to secure supplies 
for his colonists he was nuirdered by one of his own men, and 
the colony which he had i)lantcd soon ceased to exist. The 
discoveries and explorations of Cartier were made between 
1534 and Inll. The discoveries and explorations made by 
Champlain, La Salic and the other French explorers named 
above were made between 1C)0'^ and KiSL 

8. Portuguese Discoveries and Explorations. — Americus 
Vespucius in 1-")0L while in the employ of the kintj of Portup^al, 
explored the coast of Brazil. This voyage was quite important 




La Salle 



Disposition of Territory 1 7 

in addition to beins^ the basis of Portiio^al's claim to Brazil. 
Up to this time the people of Europe thou,c:ht all the New 
World was a part of Asia. They now saw that the land dis- 
covered and explored by Americus V^espucius was a new con- 
tinent, as they knew that Asia did not extend so far south, and 
on the sug^gestion made by a German professor in 1507 it was 
called America, in honor of its discoverer as he supposed. When 
it became known that North America was not a part of Asia, 
the name America was applied to both the great continents of 
the New World, and the prefixes "North'-' and "South" were 
added to distinguish the one from the other. 

9. Dutch Discoveries and Explorations — In 1009 Henry 
Hudson discovered and explored the Hudson River as far up 
as Albany. Hudson- was an English sailor, but was in the 
employ of the Dutch East India Company, and Holland's 
claim to New York — called New Netherland by the Dutch — 
was based on this discovery. 



DISPOSITION OF TERRITORY IN THE NEW WORLD 

10. The Right of Discovery. — It was customary for the 
captain of a ship or the commander of a fleet when he discov- 
ered land in the New World to take possession of it in the 
name of his sovereign. Thus the nations of Europe based 
their claim to territory on the "right of discovery." It was on 
this so-called right that Spain claimed most of the West Indies, 
all of South America except Brazil, Central America, Mexico, 
Florida, and the soutlnvestern part of the United States ; Eng- 
land, the Atlantic coast from Canada to Florida ; France, all 
the territory drained by the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence 
and their tributaries ; Holland, New York ; and Portugal, 
Brazil. 

II. English Territorial Grants. — England granted her 
territory in North America to companies and to individuals, 
and established some crown colonies, the latter being under 
the direct control of the sovereign. Many of the grants made 
by the English sovereigns were described as extending from 




DISPOSITION OF TEKKITORY 
IN THK NEW WORLD 

pT^^ Claimed by England 
I I Claimed by Spain 

\ j Claimed by France 

|i!lll':. .:.: 11 Claimed by I\,rtugal 
New York claimed by Holland 



.Zfl 



1.4 CO ,N r. 



160" 



120° Longitude Woat 80" from arwnwluh 10° 

18 



Decline of Spanish Power 19 

"sea to sea," that is, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. As these 
grants did not always extend due east and west, they frequently 
overlapped, the same land being included in different grants 
at the same time. This caused considerable trouble, even 
after the colonies secured their independence from England. 



DECLINE OF SPANISH POWER 

12. Spain's Early Supremacy on the Sea. — For more 
than eighty years after the discovery of America, Spain was 
the most powerful nation in the world. She was virtually mis- 
tress of the seas, having a larger navy than any other nation. 
This gave her an immense advantage in securing lands and 
forming settlements in the New World. So long as she was 
stronger on the seas than any other nation, she could con- 
trol, to a large extent, the development of America. She had 
secured far more of this new territory than any other nation. 
She was obtaining a large amount of money from the mines 
of Mexico and Peru. All this tended to increase her influ- 
ence in both Europe and America. 

But Spain was soon to lose this proud leadership among the 
nations of the world. England sent an army to assist Holland 
in its attempt to regain its independence from Spain. Sir 
Francis Drake and other bold English sea captains captured 
the Spanish treasure ships which were on their way from 
Mexico and Peru. They even sailed into the Spanish harbors 
and destroyed vessels in sight of the people. Drake called 
these acts "singeing the king of Spain's beard." 

13. Defeat of Spanish Armada. — These acts so enraged 

the Spanish king, Philip II, that he determined to invade 

England and annex it to his kingdom. In 1588 he collected 

a fleet of about one hundred and fifty ships, which carried 

more than three thousand cannon. This fleet was considered 

so powerful that it was called the Invincible Armada. It was 

thought by many military men on the continent of Europe 

that England would be conquered. The English people were 

thoroughly aroused, but they were not frightened. They were 
4 



20 



Introductory 



putting forth every effort to collect a fleet with which to meet 
the Armada. The English navy contained but thirty-eight 
ships, and most of these were small and poorly equipped. But 
the merchants gave their ships freely for the purpose of de- 
fense, and a fleet was collected, though it was not so large 
nor so well equipped as the Spanish fleet. Lord Effingham, 
Drake, Howard, Hawkins, and other English sea captains were 
placed in command. No greater sea fighters ever lived. The 
Spanish commanders did not compare with them in ability. 
When the Invincible Armada entered the English Channel, the 
Eng^lish fleet did not make a direct attack, but hung on its 




The Sp.\nish Armada attacked by the English Ships 

flanks, destroying ship after ship, and in a long running fight 
drove the Armada through the channel into the North Sea. 
The defeated Spaniards could not return to Spain through 
the English Channel, and were forced to sail around the north 
of Scotland, where storms destroyed so many of their ships 
that not more than one-third of them finally reached Spain. 

14. The Rise of English Sea Power. — This crushing de- 
feat of the Invincible Armada had a most important bearing 
on the history of the New World. It marked the beginning 
of Spain's decline on both land and sea. It also marks the 
beginning of England as a sea power. She soon became mis- 



The American Indian 21 

tress of the seas and has since held this position. All this 
meant that England and not Spain should have most to do 
in shaping the growth of America. From this time on France 
was England's only serious competitor in colonizing North 
America. 

THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

15. Origin of the Name. — When Columbus discovered the 
New World he was not surprised to find ii; inhabited, because 
he thought it a part of Asia. As he believed that the islands 
which he had discovered were a part of the East Indies, he 
called the people who lived on them, Indians. This name was 
afterward applied to all the native inhabitants of America. 
This race of people does not seem to be closely related to any of 
the other races of mankind. Nobody knows anything definite 
about its origin or how long it has lived here. It is certain, 
however, tliat the Indians have lived in America for ages, long 
before Greece or Rome was founded. 

16. Classification According to Civilization: (a) The 
Saz'age Indians. — The native inhabitants of America repre- 
sented three stages of human advancement, — the savage, the 
barbarous, and the half civilized. The savage Indians lived 
in North America. In the United States they occupied Alaska, 
all the Rocky Mountain region, except a portion of Arizona and 
New Mexico, and all the territory west of these mountains. 
In Canada they occupied the territory from Hudson Bay west 
to the Pacific Ocean. They were divided into several tribes, 
among the most important being the Apache. 

(b) The Barbarous Indians. — The barbarous Indians also 
lived in North America. In the United States they occupied 
all the country east of the Rocky Mountains, and in Canada 
all the country south and east of Hudson Bay. The only In- 
dians who had any real influence on the history of the I'nitcd 
States occupied the territory between the Mississippi River and 
the Atlantic Ocean. They are divided into three general races, — 
Maskoki, Iroquois, and Algonquin. Each division or race con- 
sisted of a number of tribes, each tribe of a number of clans. 




100 " lonnlH"!* W««t from Grefn»lch 8(r 



The American Indian 



23 



and each clan was composed of a number of families. Each 
race spoke a different lanj:^uage. The Maskoki occupied all of 
the southern states east of the Mississippi, except a portion 
of Tennessee and North Carolina. They included a number 




An Indian Encampment 




An Indian Village of Another Tribe 



of tribes, the most important ones beinp; the Creeks, Seminoles, 
Choctaws and Chickasaws. The Iroquois race was the strong- 
est one in North America,' and it had more influence on the 
history of thf United States than any other, ft occui)ic(l New 
York, Pennsylvania, llic northeastern ])arl of ( )]ii(), the larjjer 



24 Introductory 

part of North Carolina and Tennessee, and the country between 
Lakes Huron and Erie. The most important tribes of this race 
were the Five Nations in New York, the Hurons north of 
Lake Erie, and the Cherokees of Tennessee. The Algonquin 
race occupied all the country east of the Mississippi between 
Tennessee and North Carolina on the south, to Labrador on the 
north, except that part occupied by the Iroquois. Some of 
the most important tribes of this race were the Powhatans of 
Virginia, the Dclawares of Delaware, the Mohegans and Nar- 
ragansetts of New England, the Shawnees of the Ohio Valley, 
and the Ottawas and Chippewas of the Great Lake region. 

(c) The Half-ck'iUzed Indians. — The half-civilized Indians 
occupied the mountain region extending from New Mexico in 
the L'nited States to Chili in v^outh America. Among the most 
important races or nations were the Pueblos of Arizona and 
New Mexico, the Aztecs of 'Mexico, and the Incas of Peru. 
(M these, the Incas were the most civilized. They built cities 
and temples, constructed military roads, raised various prod- 
ucts, and made fine cotton and woolen cloth. The potato is a 
native of Peru, where the Spaniards found it under cultiva- 
tion. Thc\' introduced it into Europe. 

17. Appearance and Manner of Living. — In some re- 
spects, all the Indians inhabiting North America were the 
same. All had black hair, black eyes, a copper-colored skin, 
high cheek bones, and no beard. As was stated above, the 
barbarous Indians, and especially those between the Missis- 
sippi River and the Atlantic Ocean, were the only ones who 
had an}- important intluence on the history of the L'nited 
States. Although they raised some agricultural ])roducts, as 
Indian corn, tomatoes, tobacco, ])umpkins, and beans, they 
secured most of their food by hunting and fishing. They lived 
in huts and wigwams, and the women did most of the hard, 
unpleasant work. This mode of living and of securing food 
required a large territory for a small number of people, and 
therefore the nunilier of Indians was always small. It is 
doubtful if the entire Indian population east of the Missis- 
sippi exceeded one hundred and forty thousand. In other 
words, the population of New York City at the present time 



Questions and Topics 25 

(1905) is more than twenty times greater than was the Indian 
population of the entire country east of the Mississippi. 

18. Character. — Although. the American Indian was kind 
and hospitable to friends, and to strangers with whose rela- 
tives or nation he was at peace, he was by nature cruel, re- 
vengeful and treacherous. He was brave as to physical pain, 
and would suffer torture without complaint, but in war he 
used all the tactics of the savage and the coward. He would 
not make a fair, open fight if he could possibly avoid it, pre- 
ferring to shoot his enemy from a safe place of concealment. 
He delighted in the torture of prisoners and in the murder 
of women and children. In domestic life he was lazy and 
filthy. But with all these faults he was intelligent, proud, and 
haughty, and could never be enslaved. He despised manual 
labor as beneath his dignity, and as fit only for women and 
children. His dislike for labor, and the fact that he had no 
conception whatever of private ownership in land, were the 
principal reasons why he would not adopt the white man's civ- 
ilization and settle down to a peaceful, industrious life. This 
is not true of the Creeks nor of some of the other southern 
Indians. They adopted to some extent the civilization of the 
whites. In the Indian Territory to-day their descendants have 
a well-organized government, and are quite industrious and 
civilized. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 

CONDITIONS FAVORABLE TO THE DISCOVERY OF 
AMERICA 

Questions for Class Recitations 

(In connection witli the questions which follow, each pupil 
should read the first number of Hart's "Source Reader in American 
History," pp. 1-5."]. See "Explanatory and Suggestive," page ix.) 
Tell what the people of the Old World for a long time believed 
about the shape and size of the earth. For about how long did the 
people have these wrong ideas? How much of the world was 
known before the New World was discovered? (Each pupil should 
draw a map of the world as known before the time of Columbus.) 



26 Introductory 

Describe tlie civilization of ancient Greece and Rome. TTow docs 
this civilization tend to prove that the failure to discover the New 
World long before it was discovered was not due to ignorance on 
the part of the people of Europe? Explain fully the conditions 
which caused the Greeks and Romans to take so little interest in 
learning more about the shape and size of the earth. What effect 
did the barbarian invasions have on the civilization of southern 
Europe? Before the time of Columbus, what conditions prevented 
the people of the other nations of Europe from discovering the 
New World? What did some philosophers who lived during this 
long period believe regarding the shape and size of the earth? Ex- 
plain carefully how the general advance in education and civiliza- 
tion made the people of Europe anxious to learn more about these 
things. Give a careful discussion of the growth of commerce up 
to about the time Columbus discovered .\mcrica. Explain how 
commerce was carried on between Europe and Asia. Explain care- 
fully what interfered with this valuable commerce. Explain fully 
in what way this led to the discovery of America. (Each pupil 
should draw a map that will show the three trade routes between 
Europe and India, and that part of those routes that fell into the 
hands of the Turks.) 



• DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 

QUKSTIONS FOR Cl..\SS RKdT.MlUNS 

For what wa.s Columbus searching when he made his voyage in 
1492? Discuss his four voyages to the New World. Explain wdiy 
he and other men in Europe were disappointed at the result of his 
discoveries and explorations. Who were the Northmen? When 
did they visit .Xmerica? What part of America did they visit? 
Why are they not considered the real discoverers of the New 
World? Why wer^; their voyages to America not very important? 
Describe the discoveries and explorations of P>alboa. Describe the 
discoveries and explorations of Magellan. Describe the discover- 
ies and explanations of Ponce de Leon. Of De Soto. Describe 
the voyages and explorations of the Cabots. Of what value were 
these explorations to England? Give a description of Drake's voy- 
age around the world. Describe the attempt of Gilbert and Raleigh 
to establish a colony in the New World. Describe the work of 
Cartier. Give a description of the explorations of Champlain. Tell 
what you can of the work of Joliet and Marquette. Give a descrip- 
tion of La Salle's work. Why was the New World called America 
instead of being named for Columbus? Toll what you can of 



Questions and Topics 27 

Henry Hudson and his work. (Each pupil should draw a map that 
will show plainly the route of each of the explorers and the part of 
the New World discovered and explored by each nation.) 



DISPOSITION OF TERRITORY IN THE NEW WORLD 
Questions for Class Recitations 

What was the "right of discovery"? What part of the New 
World did Spain claim by this right? What did England claim? 
What part did France claim? What territory in America did other 
nations claim by the right of discovery? How did England dispose 
of her territory I'n the New World? Why did this cause trouble in 
later years? (Each pupil should draw a map of North and South 
America, and indicate on said maj) the territory that was claimed 
by each of the European nations that claimed any of this territory.) 



DECLINE OF SPANISH POWER 

Questions for Class Recitations 

How did the power of Spain compare with that of other nations 
at the time of Columbus? How did this help her in America? 
How did Spain's possessions in America help build up her influence 
in Europe? How did the English sea captains injure Spaiti, and 
who were the most noted of these captains? Why did the king of 
Spain make war on England? Describe the Invincible Armada. 
I low did the English fleet compare with the Spanish fleet? Which 
nation had the better commanders? Describe the battle between 
the Armada and the English fleet. What was the effect of the 
defeat of the Invincible Armada on Spain? What effect did it have 
on England's sea power? How did this affect North America? 



THE A.MERICAN INDIAN 

Que.stions for Class Recitations 

Why were the native inhabitants of America called Indians? 
What is the difiference between savage and barbarous Indians? 
Between barbarous and half-civilized Indians? Wlierc did the sav- 
age Indians live? What part of America did the barbarous Indians 



28 Introductory 

inlial)il? Tntn wlmt races were the harb.arous Indians divided? 
VVluTc did each race live? Mow did tlicse races differ? Name the 
most inipiirlaiil tribes of eacli race of tlie barbarous Indians. 
Where did tlie half-civih/.ed Incbans live? liow did they differ 
from the savage and barI)arous Indians? What Indians had the 
most inlluence on the history of the United States, the savage, the 
barbarous, or the half-civilized? Why was this? (Eacli pupil 
should draw a map that will show i)lainly the territory which the 
savage and barbarous Indians occupied in NcuMh America. This 
maj) should also show i>lainly the ti'rritory occupied by each race 
and tribt' o«f the barbannis Indians that lived east of the M'issis- 
sipi)i,) In what ways were all North American Indians alike? 
'I'l'll all you can abo-ut tlu- way tlu'y lived. Why were there not 
more Indians in so large ;i emnitry? Describe the nature and 
habits of the Indian. Why did the white man not make slaves of 
the Indians ;is he did of tlu' negroes? 



Ql'KSTIONS I'OR CoMl'OSITIONS .\ND Ex.\ Ml NATIONS 

Discuss the conditions llial pri'vented the discovery of the New 
World before' llie lime of CoUnnbus. Discuss the conditions that 
led to llie di.scovcry of :\inerica. Discuss the voyages of the 
Northmen to America. Discuss the .Sii.anish discoveries and ex- 
plorations. l")iscuss the English exjilorations. Compare the ex- 
plorations of the .S]).iniNh with tliosi' of the b'-uglish in respect to 
location .and imi)ortance. I low do the iMencli ex])lorations com- 
I)are with those of the Spaui.sh and l'".nglish? Discnss the claims 
of the various nations to the territory of the New World. Discuss 
the decline of Spanish power and its effect on America. Compare 
the savage, barbarous, and half-civilized Indians in respect to civil- 
ization .and location. Describe the appearance of the American 
Indi.-m and his manner ol living. Discuss the character of the 
1 ndian. 



THE THIRTEEN COLONIES 

ORIGIN, (GROWTH. AND I'()JJ'riCAL HISTORY 



THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS 

Tlie breaking waves dashed liigli 

On a stern and rock-bound coast, 
■And the woods against a stormy skj' 
Their giant branches tossed. 

And the heavy niglit hung dark 

Tlie liills and waters o'er, 
Wlirn a l)and of exiles moored tlieir bark 

( )n tlie wihl New l-ugland shore. 

Not as tlie eonciueror comes. 

The}', the true-liearled, came; 
Not with the roll of the stirring drums, 

And the trumpet that sings of fame; 

Not as the llying come, 

In silence and in fear;-- 
They shook the deptlis of the desert gloom 

With their hynms of lofty cheer. 

Amidst the storm they sang. 

.\nd the stars heard and the sea: 
.\nd the sounding aisles of the dim woods ranj 

To the anthem of the free! 

The ocean eagle soared 

From his nest by the while wave's foam; 
And the rocking pine of the forest roared — 

This was their welcome home! 



******* 



-Felicia I'rowne Ilemans 



THE THIRTEEN COLONIES 

ORIGIN, GROWTH AND POLITICAL HISTORY 

THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 

T. \"irginia 

1. Origin and Growth in Population • 

(a) Grants to London and Plymoutli Companies 

(b) The Jamestown Colony 

2. Government in Early Virginia 
(a) Character of Early Settlers 

(&) Government under Smith and Dale 

(c) Origin of Representative Government in America 

(d) Charter of the London Company Annulled 

(e) Quarrels between the People and the Royal Gover- 

nors 

3. Sir William Berkley: the English Cavaliers 

4. Bacon's Rebellion 

IT. Maryland 

1. Origin and Growth in Population 

2. Nature of Government 

3. Invasion of Claiborne: Religious Disputes 

III. North and South Carolina 

1. Origin and Growth in Population 

2. Government in the Early Carolinas 
(a) Character of Colonists 

(&) Representative Government 

IV. Georgia 

1. Origin and Growth in Pn])ulatinn 

2. Nature of Government 

THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 

I. Origin and Growth in Population 

1. Origin of the Puritans and the Separatists 

2. Persecution of the Puritans and the Separatists 

3. The Founding of Plymouth Colony 

4. The Founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony 

29 



30 The Thirteen Colonies 

5. The Founding of Connecticut 

6. The Founding of Rhode Island 

7. The Settlement of New Hampshire 

8. The Settlement of Maine 

II. Government in Early New England 

1. The Virginian and the Puritan 

2. Puritan Ideas of Government 

3. Government under the Charters 

(o) Government in Massachusetts: Rights of English- 
men Demanded 

(b) Government in Plymouth 

(c) Government in Rhode Island and Connecticut 

(d) The People Controlled Law-making 

4. The New England Confederacy 
(«) Nature of the Confederacy 

{b) The Massachusetts Bay Colony Dissatisfied: Value 
of the Confederacy 

III. Relations of llie F.nglish with the Indians 

1. The Indians and the Pilgrims 

2. The Pequod War 

(a) Origin 

(b) Destruction of the Pecjuods: Effect on the Other In- 

dians of New England 

3. Treatment of the Indians by the Puritans 

4. The Englishman and the Indian Did not Understand Each 

Other 

5. King Philip.'s War 
(a) Origin 

{b) The War and Its Results 

IV. Under the Royal Governors 

I. Massachusetts Loses Her Charter 
(a) First Attacks on Her Charter 
. (&) The Confederacy and the Commonwealth 

(c) Quarrels between King Charles and Massachusetts 

(d) Her Charter Annulled 

2. The Despotic Rule of Sir Edmund Andros 

3. Rhode Island and Connecticut Secure Royal Charters 

4. Overthrow of the King and Andros: Massachusetts Se- 

cures a New Charter 

5. New England from 1689 to 1776 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 31 

THE MIDDLE COLONIES 

T. New York 

1. Discovery and Settlement 

2. Character of the Colonists: Growth of the Colony 

3. Government under the Dutch 

4. The Colony under English Control 
(c) Conquest by the English 

(b) Under the Duke of York 

(c) Under the Royal Governors 

IT. New Jersey 

1. Origin and Growth in Population • 

2. Political History 

III. Delaware 

IV. Pennsylvania 

1. Origin and Growth in Population 

2. Government in Early Pennsylvania 
(a) Under Penn 

(&) Under Deputy Governors 



32 The Thirteen Colonies 



ORIGIN, GROWTH AND POLITICAL HISTORY 

THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 
Virginia 

19. Origin and Growth in Population. — As has already 
been stated, England granted her territory in North America 
to companies and to individuals, and established some crown 
colonies. Although the efforts of Sir Walter Raleigh to es- 
tablish an English colony in the New World were not suc- 
cessful, they served to direct the attention of the English peo- 
ple toward the question of planting colonies in America. The 
attack of the Spanish Armada had interrupted Raleigh's plans 
for colonization. After the destruction of the Armada the 
English people were free to take up the matter again. During 
the latter part of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the 
seventeenth century there were hard times in England. This 
made many of the English people desire to emigrate to the New 
World in order to better their condition. Fortunately, King 
James I now came to their assistance. 

(a) Grants to London and Plymonth Coinpanics. — Wlien 
James became king of England, he revoked the charter granted 
Raleigh, and in lOOG granted the land from about Cape Fear 
to the mouth of the Potomac River to a company composed 
of London merchants, called the London Company. At this 
same time the king granted the land from about New York 
City to Nova Scotia to a company called the Plymouth Com- 
pany. The London Company and the Plymouth Company were 
really the two branches of one great company called the \'ir- 
ginia Company, which was to have general control of all the 
territory from about Cape Fear to Nova Scotia. The boun- 
daries of the territory granted to these two branch companies 
were changed from time to time. Each was almost independent 
of the main or Virginia Company. The general charter pro- 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 33 

vided that the Virg'inia Company and the two branch com- 
panies were to be governed each by its own council, consisting 
of thirteen members. 




(b) The Jamcsfozvji Colony. — The London Company sent 
out one hundred and five colonists, who in IGOT founded 
Jamestown on the James River, this being the first permanent 
English settlement in America. More than half of these first 
settlers died the first year, and all would have perished had 
it not been for John Smith. He took charge of affairs, estab- 
lished order, and secured food from the Indians. Two vears 
from the time the first settlers came, five hundred more ar- 
rived, but within six months all Init sixty of these had died. 
Those remaining became discouraged, embarked on their ves- 
sels, and started down the James River ; but after going a few 
miles they met Lord Delaware with three ships, ample pro- 



34 The Thirteen Colonies 

visions and many more settlers. The colony now became firmly 
established, and more colonists came over every year. By 
1(520 there were more than four thousand; in KiTO there were 
more than forty thousand ; and in 1775 this number had in- 
creased to about six hundred and seventy thousand. 

20. Government in Early Virginia: (a) Character of 
Early Settlers. — From 1007 to 1624 the London Company 
governed Virginia. This company was organized for the pur- 
pose of making money, and the first settlers who came over 
came for the same purpose. Very few of them intended to 
build homes in Virginia and remain there permanently. Some 
called themselves gentlemen ; some were criminals taken from 
the jails of England ; and some were lazy and worthless. Men 
of such character should be ruled by some authority which 
enforces the laws strictly and maintains order. This the Lon- 
don Company did. It appointed governors who, with its as- 
sistance, made laws and enforced them. 

(b) Government under Smith and Dale. — Captain John 
Smith and Sir Thomas Dale were the two ablest of the early 
governors. Smith saved the colony from destruction during 
the first two years of its existence, by enforcing law and 
order, compelling the men to work, and procuring food from 
the Indians. In Kill Dale found the colony in very bad 
condition, many of the men refusing to work, and those who 
committed crimes going unpunished. Dale's administration 
marks the beginning of stable government in Virginia. New 
laws were adopted and strictly enforced. Thieves were 
hanged, and all the able-bodied were compelled to work. Up 
to this time all that the settlers raised, or produced was put 
together and became the common property of all. Dale 
changed this. He gave each man so much land, and this be- 
came his property. Everything he raised belonged to him, ex- 
cept two and one half barrels of corn exacted each year as a 
tax for the support of the government. This plan had the 
eiTect of making each man take more interest in what he did. 

(c) Origin of Representative Government in America. — 
During Dale's administration men of a different class began 
to come to Virginia. They came for the purpose of living 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 35 



there permanently and makino- homes for themselves and their 
families. They belonged to the sturdy middle class of England, 
the best and most substantial class of the nation. These 
colonists had been accus- 
tomed while in England to 
help make the laws under 
which they lived. The 
taxes which they paid 
while in England could not 
be levied except by a body 
of men which they had 
elected. The English peo- 
ple bad secured the right 
to tax themselves, and the 
other liberties which they 
enjoyed, by long centuries 
of peaceful struggle and 
bloody warfare. 

The new colonists prized 
these liberties so highly 
that, as soon as four thou- 
sand people had settled in 
Virginia, they asked the 
London Company to permit them to elect a body of men to help 
make the laws. Their request was granted and two represen- 
tatives were elected by each of the eleven settlements. This was 
not a new principle in English government. It meant simply 
that Englishmen in America were exercising the same rights 
that they had enjoyed while in England and which their fellow- 
citizens in England were then enjoying. The twenty-two men 
elected by the people met in the church at Jamestown on Fri- 
day, July 30, 1619. They constituted the first law-making body 
ever elected in America. Each one was called a burgess, and 
together they were called the House of Burgesses. They at 
once repealed the more severe laws passed by Dale and made 
new laws for the colony. The new laws, however, still com- 
pelled men to attend church, and in other ways interfered with 
what are called the personal liberties of the individual. 




Captain John Smith 



^0 The Thirteen Colonies 

{d) Charter of the Lotuioti Coinf^aity AnnnllcJ. — During: 
the ninety years before the first settlers came to Jamestown the 
people of Europe were constantly quarreling: and fighting: about 
relig:ion. The trouble beg:an in Gennany in lolT and soon ex- 
tended to England. In lo;>4 the government of England 
changed the Catholic church in England to some extent and 
made the king instead of the pv'>pe the head of the church. 
The new church was called the Episcopal or Established 
church. Severe laws were passeii against the Catholic church, 
and since then no public money has been used for its support 
in England. The Episcopal church w as made the state church 
and was supported by public money the same as the Catholic 
church before had been. It was not long before several new- 
churches were organized, but the members of these and also 
of the Catliolic church were often persecuted and arrested, and 
many of them were executeii. The members of one of these 
new churches were called Puritans. 

The Puritans got control of the London Company in 1619. 
Tames T. who was then king of England, had a strong dislike 
for the Puritans on account of their religion and because they 
believed that the people should have a part in the making of 
laws and in the voting of taxes. P»ecause of his opposition to 
the Puritans, lames, in 1(504. had the courts of England annul 
the charter of the London Company. After this he appointed 
the governors of X'irginia. but the cv^lonists still elected the 
House of Rurgesses which helped to make the laws. Soon 
after the charter was annulled, James died and Charles I be- 
came king of England. Charles quarreled a great deal with 
the jxH^ple of England about their rights to make the laws and 
\-ote taxes. Finally the quarrel led to war. the king's forces 
were defeateil. and in 1(?49 he was beheadevl. Fhiring the next 
eleven years England had no king. Cromw ell. one of the lead- 
ers in the war ag-ainst the king, and Parliament, which rep- 
resent eil the people, rulevl England. These religious troubles 
and the op^wsiiion of the English people to their king^ were 
very important to America because they affected the govern- 
ment and the welfare of the pev^ple not only in \'irginia. but 
in other English cvMonies. 



Origin, Grow tli, and Political History 37 

(e) Ouarrcls bitu'ccii the People ami the Royal Goz^crttors. 
— During nearly all the time front 1(V^4 to ITTii, the governors 
of X'irginia were appointed by the kings of England. During 
a part of this period there was bitter contention between the 
kings and the people of England as to whether the latter should 
have any voice in law-making. The kings wished to rule 
England without the assistance of a legislative body elected 
by the pet.iple. As the royal goveniors of \'irginia were ap- 
pointed by these kings and represented their ideas and wishes, 
they were opposed to the House of P^urgesses and ilid not wish 
it tc> assist in making the laws for that colony. The people of 
X'irginia, however, insisted that the House of Burgesses should 
help make the laws under which they lived, and during most 
c">f this time it was the real source of power and the head of the 
government. But the constant trouble between the people and 
the royal governors over these questions tended to cause the 
colonists to dislike their governors, although they loved England 
and fondly called her the *' Mother Country." As these same 
conditions existed in many of the other colonies, the acts of 
the royal governors who represented the kings caused the 
people to become more and more careful in guarding their 
rights against the attacks of the home government. 
»2i. Sir William Berkeley; the English Cavaliers. — One 
of the most important of the royal governors of \'irginia was 
Sir William Berkeley. He was governor from ltU2 to l(i52, 
and from llio9 to 1(>T0. Between the two periods of Berke- 
ley's governorship, Cromwell and the English Parliament ruled 
England, and during most of this time the \'irginians elected 
their own governors and enjoyed a large degree of independ- 
ence. Berkeley's long rule in \'irg"inia was noted especially 
for two things ; the large immigration of English cavaliers who 
had been friends of Charles I. — the king beheaded bv Crom- 
well, — and the steady opposition maintained to the rights of the 
people, leading to Bacon's Rebellion in ltu6. During the 
twenty-one years beginning with Puritan rule in England 
l^ltUO") the population of \"irginia increased from fifteen 
thousand to forty thousand. Most of those who came over 
during this period had been friends of the dead king and were 



38 



The Thirteen Colonies 



rich and well educated. Among these were the ancestors of 
George Washington and others who became famous in the 
American Revolution. Many secured extensive estates, and 
they and their descendants made up a large part of the country 
Gentlemen in Virginia. 

22. Bacon's Re- 
bellion. — After Sir 
William Berkeley be- 
came governor of 
Virginia the second 
time his rule grew 
very oppressive. For 
fourteen years the 
people were not per- 
mitted to elect a 
new House of Bur- 
gesses. In 1676 the 
Indians began to 
burn houses and to 
nuirdcr people on the 
frontier. As Gover- 
nor Berkeley refused 
to raise an army Jlo 
protect the settlers, 
Nathaniel Bacon, an 
honest, brave and 
popular young man. 
gathered a small 
force for this purpose. 
Berkeley declared 
him a rebel and for four months there was some fighting be- 
tween the forces of the governor and those under Bacon. 
Berkeley was driven out of Jamestown and it was burned. 
Soon after this Bacon died, and the men under him dispersed 
to their homes. Berkeley executed twenty-three of the leading 
men who took part in the rel)eIlion. For this he was removed 
by the king and another governor was appointed. The only im- 
portant result of Bacon's Rebellion was to arouse the people of 




QUAKRKL BETWEEN BaCON AND BERKELEY 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 39 

Virginia against the oppressive rule of the royal governors 
and to cultivate in them the spirit of independence. The rule 
of the royal governors who succeeded Berkeley was, in most 
cases, also oppressive and tended to develop still more the 
spirit of independence and opposition. 



Maryland 

23. Origin and Growth in Population. — In the year 1632 
King Charles I granted to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, a 
tract of land which included the present states of Maryland 
and Delaware, to- 
gether with small 
strips of southern 
Pennsylvania and 
northern Virginia. 
The main object 
which Lord Balti- 
more had in view 
when he founded 
the colony was to 
provide a home 
for the Catholics 
of England. They 
were being per- 
secuted, and he 
hoped that in 
Maryland they 
would be able to 
enjoy the exercise 
of their religion 
without interfer- 




George Calvert, Lord Baltimore 



ence. It was his sincere desire that in Maryland every one, 
so long as he was a good citizen, should be permitted to live in 
peace regardless of his religious ideas or to what church he 
might belong. Two hundred colonists came over in 1634 and 
founded the town of St. Mary's, near the mouth of the Poto- 
mac. By 1688 the population of the colony had increased to 



40 The Thirteen Colonies 

about twenty-five thousand, and by 1775 to about two hundred 
and fifty thousand. 

24. Nature of the Government. — Tlie charter £^ranted 
by King Charles to Lord Baltimore and his heirs vested in 
them great authority over the new colony. They possessed 
authority almost equal to that enjoyed by the English king, 
but the people of the colony were to have the right to assist 
in making the laws. No' law could be enacted without their 
consent, and during the entire history of this colony the 
people had a large share in the government. At first they 
all came together to consider laws and taxation, but soon 
they elected a legislative body which attended to these affairs 
for them. While there were disagreements several times be- 
tween the people and Lord Baltimore and his heirs regarding 
laws and taxes, these disputes were usually settled without 
much trouljle. 

25. Invasion of Claiborne. — Most of the political history 
of ]\Iaryland during colonial times is closely related to 
contentions and disputes among opposing religious factions. 
Before King Charles I granted ]\laryland to Lord Balti- 
more, William Claiborne, a Virginian, had settled on a 
little island in Chesapeake Bay. He tried to prevent the 
colonists whom Lord Baltimore had sent over from mak- 
ing a settlement, but was himself forced to return to Vir- 
ginia. During the next ten years a large number of Puritans 
settled in the new colony. They wished to get control of the 
government in order to oppress the Catholics. Claiborne, with 
some other Virginians, invaded Maryland and with the assist- 
ance of these disaffected Puritans secured control of the 
government, but he was soon driven out. In Ifiol: they were 
again successful in overthrowing the government. Cromwell 
made a careful investigation of the matter, and, though him- 
self a Piu-ilan, decided that the colony belonged to the Balti- 
more family. The clergy and members of the htpiscopal church 
were also opposed to the Catholics. They made several attempts 
to sieze the government, and in IHSO were successful. At this 
time there were severe laws in England against Catholics, and 
these resulted in the charter being annulled. From 1093 to 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 41 

1714 the governors of Maryland were appointed by the king, 
but when at this latter date the fourth Lord Baltimore be- 
came a Protestant, his rights were acknowledged, and his 
family retained control of the government until the colonies be- 
came the United States. 

North and South Carolina 

26. Origin and Growth in Population. — In IftGo King 
Charles II granted the territory between Virginia and Florida 
to eight of his friends, among whom were Sir William Berke- 
ley, the Duke of Albemarle, the Earl of Clarendon, and the 
Earl of Shaftesbury. Before this charter was issued a few 
English colonists had made a settlement on Albemarle Sound, 
and these were soon joined by others. The first settlement in 
South Carolina was made on the southern side of Charleston 
harbor in 1(570, and ten years later Charleston was founded. 
Other settlements were soon made in both North and South 
Carolina, the most important being around Charleston and on 
the Cape Fear River. But during the first thirty-five years 
the growth in population was not rapid. At first South Caro- 
lina was the more populous, the settlements around Charleston 
in 1682 having a population of about three thousand. At the 
close of the seventeenth century the population began to in- 
crease more rapidly. In 1775 there were about two hundred 
thousand people living in North Carolina and about one hun- 
dred and eighty thousand in South Carolina. 

27. Government in the Early Carolinas: (a) Character 
of the Colonists. — The colonists of both North Carolina and 
South Carolina came from various nations and were members 
of a number of different churches. French, Scotch, and Ger- 
mans formed a large part of the population. Many came to 
these two colonies because they were persecuted at home on 
account of their religious ideas. Quakers, Baptists, and 
Catholics came from England and Virginia in order to es- 
cape religious persecutions ; a large number of Huguenots 
came from France, for the same reason ; and many Scotch 
Presbyterians, who could no longer stand the persecution at 



42 The Thirteen Colonies 

home, came to these colonies to make new homes for them- 
selves and their families. The men and women who com- 
posed this mixed population represented strength and deter- 
mination. They were willing to suffer in order to maintain 
their right to enjoy their religious and political ideas. 

(b) Representative Government. — Now, it so happened 
that the proprietors to whom the king had granted these two 
colonies belonged to the Church of England, and they were 
opposed to the members of these other churches taking any 
part in making laws or voting taxes. As most of the people 
did not belong to the Church of England, there was constant 
trouble between them and the governors who were appointed 
by the proprietors. The people in both colonies soon secured 
the right to elect legislative bodies. There were frequent disa- 
greements with some of the governors, but the people insisted 
on making the laws. Governor Sothel, who attempted to de- 
prive them of this right, was driven from the colonies. In 
1719 South Carolina again deposed her governor. This deter- 
mination on the part of the people to maintain their religious 
and political rights led frequently to great disorder, and some- 
times there was scarcely any government at all, this being true 
especially in North Carolina. Because of these frequent and 
serious disorders the charter was annulled in 1729 ; North and 
South Carolina each became a royal province, and until 1776 
the governors were appointed by the king. 

Georgia 

28. Origin and Growth in Population.— When South Car- 
olina became a royal province, the Savannah River was made 
its southern boundary, and the territory south of this river 
and north of Florida (the latter belonged to Spain) was re- 
served for a new colony. In England, at that time, the man 
who could not pay his debts was put in prison and kept there 
until he found some way to satisfy his creditors. James Ogle- 
thorpe, v/ho was an English army officer and a member of Par- 
liament, investigated the conditions of the debtors in the pris- 
ons. He found these conditions very bad, and in his de- 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 43 



sire to do something for these prisoners conceived the idea of 
making homes for them in America. In order to accomphsh 
this, he induced King George II to grant to him and twenty 
other men the EngUsh territory south of the Savannah. 

For the purpose of assisting the debtors to pay their debts 
and to get another start in the new colony, which was called 
Georgia, some rich men gave money, and Parliament voted 
about fifty thousand dollars. 
Oglethorpe was appointed 
governor, and in 1733 he with 
thirty-five families made the 
first settlement in the last Eng- 
lish colony to be established 
in America, by- founding the 
city of Savannah. Augusta 
was founded the next year, 
and five years later another 
settlement was made at the 
mouth of the Altamaha. The 
colony at first was not pros- 
perous. In 1752 there were 
less than five thousand peo- 
ple living in Georgia, but 
from this time on the popula- 
tion increased more rapidly and had reached about seventy- 
five thousand in 1775. 

29. Nature of the Government.— The charter of the col- 
ony placed the government entirely in the hands of the pro- 
prietors, and the colonists were permitted to have but very 
small share in making the laws under which they lived. The 
charter provided also that there should be complete religious 
liberty, except for Catholics, and that all foreigners should 
have equal civil and political rights with Englishmen. A num- 
ber of Scotch and German settlers came to the new colony. 
The people of South Carolina were very glad to have this 
colony south of them. .They had been having considerable 
trouble with the Spanish in Florida, and the founding of 
Georgia served as a protection against Spanish attacks. From 




Oglethorpe 



44 The Thirteen Colonies 

now on for a number of years. Georp^ia bad to l^cav tbc brunt 
of sucb attacks. O.c^lctborpe made a splencbd mibtary tj^overnor. 
He invaded Florida, and tbe Si)aniards in turn invaded Geor- 
gia, and made an assault on Fredcrica by land and sea. They 
could not capture tbe town, and tbe arrival of Iui,<;lisb vessels 
caused tbem to return to Florida. Wben Ogletborpe returned 
to England in 17 l:?. tbe condition of afifairs in tbe colon v grew 
worse and worse. In 17r)2 Georgia was made a royal province, 
and from tbis time on, until tbe Revolution, it became more 
and more prosperous. 

THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 
Origin and Growth in Population 

30. Origin of Puritans and Separatists.— In l.")28 Pope 
Clement \'II refused to grant King Henry VHI of England a 
divorce from his wife Catherine. This displeased King Henry 
very much, because be wished to marry Anne Boleyn, one of 
Catherine's maids. In order to accomplish tbis be induced 
Parliament to pass a statute which declared that be and not 
the pope should be considered the bead of tbe Catholic church 
in England. King Henry had defended the po]K' and bad 
written pamphlets against Martin Luther and others, who op- 
posed the Catholic church and its teachings. He therefore had 
no desire to make many changes in tbe doctrines and forms of 
the church, but merely wished to overthrow the pope's power 
in England, and to assume that power himself, in order to di- 
vorce bis wife and to carry out other plans unhampered by tbe 
pope. r)Ut the opposition to tbe church as it then existed could 
not be checked. Tbe act of Parliament which declared that 
the pope was no longer bead of the church in England served 
to cause the rapid growth of this opposition. Henry trie.d to 
prevent any radical changes in tbe church itself, but was not 
entirely successful. I\ach year tbe number opposed to the 
church, as it then existed, increased. 

As a result of this opposition, the Catholic church in England 
was changed considerably, and has since been known as tbe 
Episcopal or Established church. It was not changed enough, 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 45 

however, to suit many of the reformers. Some of those dissat- 
isfied desired to remain in the KstabHshed church, but wished 
to reform or purify its creeds and ceremonies. These were 
called Puritans. Others more strongly opposed to the doctrines 
and forms of the church desired to, and did, withdraw or 
separate from it. These were called Separatists. The Puritans 
succeeded in securing some changes in the Established church, 
but not enough to suit them, and within a little less than one 
hundred years after Parliament declared Henry VIII the head 
of the Church of England, some of the 'Puritans as well as the 
Separatists had withdrawn from this church, and had formed a 
church of their own. 

31. Persecution of the Puritans and the Separatists. — 
Those opposed to the Established church were not permitted to 
withdraw peacefully and establish separate churches not under 
the authority of the king. In many cases their property was 
taken from them, they were sent to jail, and the leaders were 
put to death. At first the Puritans, as well as the members of 
the Established church, assisted in the persecution of the Sepa- 
ratists, but it was not long before the Puritans themselves were 
severely persecuted. In order to escape this treatment, and to 
be free to worship God as they desired, a number of the Sepa- 
ratists escaped from England in 1G07 and settled in Holland. 
Many Puritans joined this band, and by 1019 the number of 
exiles settled at Leyden amounted to more than one thousand. 
These men and women did not wish to remain in Holland, 
because they were afraid that their children would acquire the 
speech, habits, and manners of the Dutch. They wished to 
find a place where they might live and worship in peace and 
yet remain British subjects in P>ritish territory. They knew 
of the success of the Jamestown colony and decided that the 
New World was an excellent place to establish a permanent 
home for themselves and their children. 

32. The Founding of the Plymouth Colony. — In 1020, 
after some trouble in securing ])ermission from the London 
Company and the necessary money from English merchants, 
about one hundred of these Separatists, called Pilgrims on ac- 
count of their wanderings, sailed in the Mayfioivcr for New 



46 



The Thirteen Colonies 



Jersey. Instead of landiii};' in New Jersey, tlicy sit^lUed land 
()(T Cajie Cod. and on Nov. 11 made a temporary landing' and 
l)eL;an to lodk tOr a place lo build lionus. In I(in(i I\in!_^' 
Janu'S, as has already been staled, "granted the riymouth Com- 
pany, which was a branch of the s^reat Viri^inia Com])any. all 
(ill' l;ind bet Weill i,'>ii^- Island ami Nova Scotia. As the iM\- 
month Company had failed to make a settlement in this terri- 
tory as stipulated in the charter, it had lost its leqal ri^ht to 
the same. In hl'.M), howi'X'er, members of the companv suc- 
ceeded in securing.'; a new p.itcnt. This new IMyiiioulh Com- 




1 UK l..\Nl)IN(; OK lUK PllCKlMS 

panv. also known as the Council lor Xew l''n_i;land. was cimu- 
poscd of forlv nu'Uibers. When the Pilgrims lauded in 
iMassachnsetls, therefore, llu'v were in the tcrrilor\- ol the 
rhnioulh (.'onipatn and not (»f tlu' London Company tri^m 
which ihey had secured the rij^ht to settle in the Xew W'tuld. 
I'.ut they later secured this rii^ht from the ri\uioulh C'ompauy. 
iiaviui;- selected a ]<lace to build homes, they made a perman- 
ent landinj;- neeember '?1. ;iiid founded riymouth. The lirst 
winter was a severe one and more than one halt of the colonists 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 47 

(lic(] C){ cold, Ininj^cT and disease. I lowcvcr, in llic face of 
all discoiirai,a'niciits, these men and women clun}^' to their new 
home persistently. In KlilO the cdjony contained only three 
hnndred ])ersons, in Hi 10 ahont three thousand, and in 1 (!7() 
it had rcachc(I cij^ht thousand. 

33. Founding of Massachusetts Bay Colony. — 'J1ie I'lyni- 
outh eolriuy had a huinhlc orij^du and a slow j^'rowth. For 
ten years after Plymouth was settled it looked as thf)u^h the 
growth of New iCni^dand would he slow aufl feehle indeed. 
I'ut conditions in h'n^land were soon to chanj^'e all this, 
Charles I hecame kiuf^'' in Hl'i."). lie was stronj^ly opposed to 
the i'uritans and the- liher.al and cf)nstitutional form of j^^ovcrn- 
ment for which they stood. ( )n the second day of March, 
l()i^!), the k\u^ hrokc up the session of Parliament and sent 
some of its inemhers to prison. The l*\n-itans saw that they 
must riL;hl in h'jii^Iand and thus l)rinL; on a civil war, or suhmit 
to the tyranny of the kini;', or leave the country. Many 
decided to remain in i''n,nland and wait for a favorahle 
opj)ortunity opeidy to oppose; the kinj^; otln'rs decided to 
cmit^rate to New J*'nj4land. 

In 1(128 some of the leading- Puritans purchased from the 
Plymouth or New h'.ni^land Company a larj^c tract of land in 
Massachusetts \y\uji; hetween the Charles and the Merrimac 
rivers, and extendinj^ from the Atlantic to the Pacific. vSf)on 
afterw.ard a small parly of Purilans, led h\' John hjidicott, 
settled at a place called Naumkeaj^', and chanj.^ed the name to 
Salem. In 1 ()2!) the kinj^ f^ranted to tlie men who had pur- 
chased this tract of land a charter, which created a corporatirjn 
called the Covernor and Company of Massachusetts I 'ay. 
Durinj.^ the same year ahotit fom- hundred emii^aants crossed 
to this territory and settled at Salem, thus makint^f it larf^cr 
than Plymouth, which had heen founded nine years hefore. 
Durinjj^ ^('}'M) more than one thousand Puritans came to New 
I^n^land and settled the towns of Charlestown, lioslf)!!, Rox- 
hury, Dorchester, VVatertown, and New Town (later called 
Camhridge). I'y ICu')^) the nuniher of colonists in the 
different settlements in Massachusetts amounted to ahout five 
thousand. 



48 The Thirteen Colonies 

34. The Founding of Connecticut. — The colony of Mas- 
sachusetts had the distinetion of l)einp^ the parent of the other 
New England colonies, with the exception of Maine. This 
is especially true in the case of Connecticut. In 1631 a grant 
of land along the valley of the Connecticut River had been 
obtained from the New England Company by Lord Brooks 
and by Lord Saye and Sele, but no attempt at colonization was 
made at that time. The early settlers of this territory all came 
from the Massachusetts colonies, which they left because they 
were not satisfied with the religious and political conditions 
there. The first settlement was made in 1633, by a small party 
from Plymouth. Two years later emigrants from near Boston 
came into the new country, and in 1636 Hartford was founded. 
Massachusetts at first held control over these settlements, but 
in 1633 they united under the name of Connecticut, and set up 
an independent government. 

In 1637 a congregation of Puritans, composed of wealthy 
London merchants and their families, arrived in Boston. Not 
being entirely satisfied with the religious conditions there, and 
desiring to establish a government that should be more closely 
connected with the church than that of the Massachusetts Bay 
colony, they left in the spring and founded the town of New 
Haven, near the mouth of the Connecticut River. By 1640 
settlers from this town, from England, and from the Massa- 
chusetts Bay colony had founded the towns of Milford, 
Guilford, and Stamford. These four towns united in 1643 
and formed the colony of New Haven. Afterward the 
towns of Southold and Branford joined the colony. 

The Connecticut and New Haven colonies kept up a separate 
existence for many years, but in the year 1662 Connecticut 
obtained a royal charter which annexed to her the New Haven 
colony. New Haven objected strongly to being absorbed in 
this way, but was forced to give up her independence. The 
united colony prospered, and its advance in wealth and popula- 
tion was rapid. By the time of the Revolution, Connecticut 
contained about two hundred thousand inhabitants. 

35. The Founding of Rhode Island. — The settlement of 
Rhode Island was due largely to religious and political trou- 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 49 



bles existing in jMassachusetts. In 1631 Roger Williams, a 
young Puritan minister, came to Massachusetts and began 
to preach doctrines in regard to the church and government 
that were much disliked by the leaders of the colony. He was 
regarded as dangerous to the peace of the colony, and was 
therefore banished. He took refuge a few miles south of the 
Massachusetts line, and in 1(536 bought a tract of land 
from the Indians and founded a 
small settlement which he named 
Providence. Two years later the 
General Court of Massachusetts 
banished Anne Hutchinson for the 
same reason for which it had ban- 
ished Roger Williams. She and 
her followers purchased the island 
Aquednok, or Rhode Island, and 
made a settlement called Ports- 
mouth. In 1639 this settlement 
divided, and Newport was founded 
on another part of the island. The 
town of Warwick was established 
later by Samuel Gorton, a follower 
of Anne Hutchinson, who roused 
great strife wherever he went, be- 
ing banished from several settle- 
ments. 

In 1647 these separate tov/ns 
along the shores of Narragansett 
Bay were united under the title 
of Providence Plantations, This 
name was changed later to Rhode 
Island. The growth of the colony was very slow for the first 
ten years on account of the religious and political disturbances. 
After this period it grew more rapidly, and at the time of the 
Revolution had over fiftv tliousand inhabitants. 

36. Early History of New Hampshire. — The earliest set- 
tlements in the territory later known as New Hampshire were 
two trading posts at Dover and Portsmouth, established in 




Roger Williams 

Statue by Franklin Simmons, 

at Providence. R. I. 



50 The Thirteen Colonies 

1623 by John Mason and Sir Ferdinand Gorges. These men 
had obtained from the New England Company a large grant 
of land along the coast in the northern part of New England, 
Their grant was divided later, and one part went to Gorges as 
Maine, the other to Mason as New Hampshire. The bound- 
aries were uncertain and caused trouble later. At the time 
Anne Hutchinson was banished from Massachusetts many of 
her followers went to New Hampshire and established the 
towns of Exeter and Hampton. All the towns in this territory 
were independent settlements, and their quarrels among them- 
selves became so harmful to their growth and prosperity that 
in 1G41 they allowed Massachusetts to incorporate them under 
her laws. They remained in this relation for thirty years, when 
King Charles H made New Hampshire a separate province and 
placed it directly imder the control of the crown. 

37. Settlement of Maine. — Little attention was paid to 
the other part of this territory by its proprietor, Gorges. Only 
two small settlements were founded by him, but later independ- 
ent towns sprang up. After his death several claimants to this 
territory appeared, and Massachusetts was asked to settle the 
matter. She did this by dividing the territory into three parts, 
one for each claimant. This was in 1649, and in the nine 
years follo.wing the three parts separately became annexed to 
Massachusetts. 

Government in Early New England 

38. The Virginian and the Puritan. — A large portion of 
the settlers of the southern colonies did not come to the New 
World in order to escape from religious persecution. They 
belonged to the Episcopal or Established Church of England, 
and therefore were under the protection of the government in 
religious matters. They came to the New World for the sake 
of adventure, but more especially because they could make a 
better living for themselves and their children. They repre- 
sented the more fearless and independent part of the sturdy 
middle class — the best stock of the nation. They were 
thorough believers in the civil and political liberty which Eng- 





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Origin, Growth, and Political History 51 

lishmen enjoyed, and they and their descendants were as stout 
in the defense of those rights in the struggle with the EngHsh 
kings, which ended in the Revohition. as were the people of 
New England. 

The colonists of New England, unlike those of Virginia and 
most of those in the other Southern colonies, came to America 
mainly because of religious persecution in England. Many 
of them were men of wealth and were graduates of the English 
universities of Oxford and Cambridge. They planned and 
established a state based on Puritan ideas of religion and 
government. This does not mean that the Plymouth and 
Massachusetts Bay colonies were places where religious liberty 
existed. The Puritans persecuted those who preached any 
doctrine other than Puritanism just as severely as they them- 
selves had been persecuted in England. They united the 
church and state. The laws provided that no one should vote 
or hold an office of any kind unless he were a member of a 
Puritan church or congregation. This form of government, 
where the church and state are thus connected, is known as a 
Theocracy. 

39. Puritan Ideas of Government; Local Government.^ 
The Puritans were among those who most bitterly opposed 
the attempts of the English king to make and execute laws 
without the sanction of Parliament, or a body of men represent- 
ing the people. Charles I broke up Parliament on Monday, 
March 2, 1029, and two days later granted the charter to the 
Massachusetts Ray Company. The Puritans under that 
charter at once organized in Massachusetts the kind of govern- 
ment for which they had been contending against the king 
in England. The Puritan emigration to the Massachusetts 
Bay colony was so large that it called for the immediate 
organization of a definite form of government. As a rule, the 
Puritans came over in congregations led bv their pastors, and 
not as individuals, as was the case in the southern colonies. 
Each congregation established a small town, and the citizens, 
that is. the church members, met at the meeting house (usually 
the first public building erected in these colonies) or in the 
town hall, and elected the town officers and decided all the 
more important questions afifecting the welfare of the town. 



52 The Thirteen Colonies 

40. Government Under the Charters: (a) /;; Massa- 
chusetts — Rights of Bngli-shiiicn Donaiidcd. — The charter of 
the Massachusetts Bay colony provided for the election of a 
g^overnor and deputy governor to hold office for one year, and 
for the election of a committee of eighteen members, called 
assistants, to hold office from year to year unless removed. 
These officers were to meet at least once each year, and when 
thus assembled were called the General Court. The charter 
contained no provision which required the members of the 
company to keep the scat of government in England. The 
leading members of the company at once decided to hold all the 
meetings of the company in America. Thus in 1(529, before 
the first large immigration, the government of the colony was 
transferred from Kngland to America. 

It was not long before the colonists demanded the rights of 
Englishmen. In IV^'.U the governor and assistants wished to 
construct forts and make other preparations against a possible 
attack by the Indians. They needed about three hundred 
dollars for this purjiose, and in order to raise it levied a tax on 
the different towns or settlements. The people of Watertown 
objected to paying their share of this tax, because they claimed 
that Englishmen could not be compelled to pay taxes unless 
thcv assisted in levying them. This protest of the people of 
Watertown led to the election of delegates or representatives by 
each town. Tn a few years delegates thus elected met in a 
separate legislative body and soon secured more power in 
making the laws and governing the colony than the assistants 
or governor. Thus it will be seen that from the very first 
the ]H>oplc of New luigland insisted, as did the people of the 
southern colonies, on the right to help make the laws under 
which they lived. This was nothii>g new for Englishmen. 
The English colonists in America were simply demanding the 
same rights which they had enjoyed while in England. 
Charles T was trying to deprive the ]H>ople of hjigland of these 
rights, and about eighteen, \ears later the hjiglish people 
defeated his armies and beheaded him. 

(b) Government in Plymouth. — Government in Plymouth 
w'as much the same in character as that in the Massachusetts 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 53 

Bay colony which has been described. The <::^ovcrnment of 
Plymoutli at first was a pure democracy, that is, all the citizens 
met and voted on all questions of general importance. A 
governor was elected annually, and also seven assistants. It 
was the duty of these officers to carry out the will of the people 
as expressed at these town meetings. As the colony increased 
in population it became inconvenient for all the freemen to vote 
on all measures, and there came to exist an assembly composed 
of delegates elected by the people of each town. This body 
was the most important part of the government. 

(c) Goz'crninctit in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New 
Haven. — The same form of government existed in Rhode 
Island and Connecticut. Before the New Haven colony was 
annexed to Connecticut, in 1622, the church had more control 
of the government than in even the Massachusetts Bay colony. 
None but church members could vote or have any share in the 
government, and it was made difficult for any one to become a 
member of the church. In Rhode Island and Connecticut the 
church and state were entirely separated — a man's religious 
beliefs had nothing to do with his duties as a citizen, or with 
the part he might take in the government. In one respect 
Connecticut was different from all other New England 
colonies. It had a written constitution, made and adopted by 
the people. This constitution provided for the same kind of 
government that existed in Massachusetts, except that a man's 
religious beliefs should have nothing to do with his privileges 
as a citizen. 

(d) I'he People Controlled Lazv-making. — In 1640 the 
population of New England was about twenty-six thousand. 
As has been stated above, government in all the New England 
colonics was essentially the same in character, the only import- 
ant difference being that the church had more to do with the 
government in some than in others. The citizens of each town 
met -and elected their town officers and decided by direct vote 
the more important questions affecting the welfare of the town. 
They also elected delegates to the assembly, the law-making 
body in each colony. In the Massachusetts Bay colony the 
assistants, a committee whose members held office from year 



54 The Thirteen Colonies 

to year, helped to make the laws, but no law could be passed 
unless a majority of the delegates elected by the people voted 
for it. Thus it will be seen that the people in each of the New 
England colonies governed themselves subject to the laws of 
Englantl. and that each colony was independent of the others. 

41. New England Confederacy Formed.— There were con- 
ditions in early New England which might at any time require 
the colonies to act together. An attack by the Dutch in New 
Vork. by the French in Canada, or by the Indians would 
require the united action of all the New England colonies. In 
order to be ready if any such occasion should arise, the colonies 
of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New 
Haven formed in ItUo what they called "The United Colonies 
of New^ England," but which is better known as the New Eng- 
land Confederacy. Rhode Island several times asked pemiis- 
sion to join this Confederacy, but was refused. The reasons 
for this refusal were the lack of a stable government in Rhode 
Island, and a dislike of her by the other colonies because she 
received and protected those who had been banished from or 
had left the other colonies because of religious or political 
ideas. 

(a) Xature of the Confederacy. — The Confederation was 
not a real union of the colonies, but a mere agreement among 
them to act together on certain general questions which 
affected the interests of all the colonies. The articles or 
written agreement drawn up provided for the election of eight 
commissioners, two from each of the four colonies, thus making 
the colonies equally represented in the Confederation. The 
commissioners were to have entire control of all the questions 
which might arise between the colonies and the Indians or a 
foreiqii power. All expenses incurred were to be apportioned 
among the colonies according to population, but the manner of 
raising this money was left to each colony. The commissioners 
dealt with the government of each colony, that is, with the 
governor and legislative bodies, and not directly with the 
people of the Confederacy. A colony could comply with the 
requests of the commissioners or refuse if it so desired. If the 
commissioners could not agree on a question, they could refer 



Origin, Crrowth, and Political History 55 

it to the colonies for settlcnicnt. As the commissioners had 
no power to enforce the acts which tliey nii^ht pass, their 
government was in fact sim])ly advisory. 

(b) Massaclnisclts Dissatisfied : Value of the Confed- 
eracy. — The New England Confederacy lasted for forty-one 
years, from 1(U3 to 1()S4. The lack of real power made it a 
weak form of union, and in this respect it closely resembled the 
government under the Articles of Confederation during the 
latter part of, and immediately after, the Revolutionary War. 
The Massachusetts Bay colony was especially dissatisfied with 
the Confederacy. While she had six thousand more inhabi- 
tants than the other throe colonies combined, and therefore 
paid more taxes for the support of the Confederacy than all the 
others, she had no more power in the management of the 
government than any one of them. Legally, she had no right 
to complain, for she knew all these things when she entered the 
Confederacy, but it was only natural that she should be inclined 
to assume more power in deciding (|uestions than the other 
colonies. Her attitude toward them was sometimes overbear- 
ing and created bitter feeling. Hut with all its faults the 
Confederacv was of great value to New England, especially 
during the war with the Indians, 1G75-1678. It was also of 
value to all the English colonies in America, as it served to pre- 
pare men's minds for unity of action a hundred years later. 
when a union among all the colonies became absolutely 
necessary in order that the colonists might maintain their 
rights against the despotic policy of the English king. 

Relations of the English with the Indians 

42. The Indians and the Puritans.— Up to about 1035 the 
people of the New England colonies were not troubled or 
interfered with seriously by the Indians. This good fortune 
was due largely to the fact that nearly all the Indians who 
lived in the country where the Pilgrims and the Puritans first 
settled in Alassachusetts had been carried ofT by an epidemic 
a short time before the Pilgrims landed. Not only did this 
leave the country around Plymouth and Boston unoccupied, 



56 "1 ho Thirteen Colonies; 

but ilio Iiuiians ihoui^lu the vlisoaso came among: them as a 
punishment because they had killevi ii tew white tishennen 
several years before, hi the sprinij of 1(>'^1. a few months 
after the Pilgjims laiuled. they made a treaty and alhance w ith 
Mass;\soit. who. was the chief of the \\"amixin«^xiiis, a tribe of 
hidians that Hveii near by. The treaty was kept faithfully for 
more than tifty years by both the Eniilish and the hidians. 
Wliile no treaty of peace was made wiili any of the hidian 
tribes that lived farther inland, they did not molest the English 
until almost fifteen years later, when the tirst settlements were 
l>eing made in Connecticut along the Connecticut River. This 
friendly attitude of the hidians was most fortunate. The 
settlement of PlMnouth was small, and a serious attack by 
the hidians at any time during the years between the landing 
of the rilgrims at Plunouth in l(>vO and the settlement of 
Massachusetts Bay Colony by the large immigration of Puri- 
tans in 1(^2;>-U?;>0. might have resulted in the total destruction 
of all the F.nglish in Now l\ngland. 

43. The Pequod War: ^a) c^nVju. — From the very 
nature of things, however, the friendly relations existing 
between the English and the hidians in Xew England could 
not long continue. If the English ciMitinuevi to come and to 
settle the country farther inland, it would not be long until all 
the hidians in Xew r.ngland would be forced to seek otlier 
homes. The hidians felt from the lirst that the a>niing of the 
English w as an intrusion on their domain and rights ; but fear 
of the white man kept them friMu making an open attack. 
Contact with the English tendevl to lessen this fear. In l(»;v> 
eight English traders while going up the Connecticut River 
were murderevl by hidians. members of the Pei^vuxl tribe which 
inhabited the territory along the Thames River. Sassacus. 
chief of this trilx\ promise\.l to deliver the murderers to the 
government at IVston. but neglected to do so. hi l(?ot> some 
Indians on Block Island, who were subject to the Xarrag^uisetts 
living opixvsite on the mainland, murdereil John Oldham, a 
trader, and capturcil his vessel, dovenior Wine of Massachu- 
setts at once sent a messenger to the chief of the Xarragansetts. 
but the chief claimevl not to have had anvthing to do with the 



Origin, Growth, and Political History cy 



nuirdor. placing- llio cMitiro hinmc on llie \\Ux'\< Island Jndiaiis. 
WIkmi the ^ovonmr heard this ho soiit a h(idy of men under i'ai- 
(hc(")tt, which destroyed the w ij^wanis and property oi tlie huhans 
on lUock Island. l{ndieotl then crossed to ihi' mainland and at- 
tacked the i'e(|Uods i'or the nun-der ol' the eiL;ht traders foiu" 
years hefore, killinL;- a nnniher 
of them. In retaliation the Te- 
quods at once he.qan to kill 
the Kiiiilish in the smaller set- 
tlements in Coimecticut. ttirtur- 
int;" their victims ami even 
roast inj;' one man alive. 

(h) ]\'stnn-tioii of flic Pc- 
quinis. — U fleet o)i the other In- 
dians of .\e:v /i//i;7</;/(/. — These 
acts were verv serious and dan- 
s^crous for the hai.ulish. and 
compelled them to ]ireparo ini- 
mediateh- for war. The towns 
in the Connecticut N'alley 
raised about ninety men and 
placed them under the command of Captain John Mason, w'ho 
had made an excellent record in the w^ars of Holland. Massa- 
chusetts contributed twenty men under bihn Underbill. These 
were joined bv about i\\c hundred Indians belonqinj;- to the 
Narragansett, Nyantic, and AUibe^an tribes. 

Most of the l\M|uods. about seven luuidred. had taken shelter 
in their fc^iitied xillage near the mouth o\ the Thames. Mason 
led his men directly against this stronghold and made a night 
attack. The friendly Indians with Mas(Mi hated the Pc(iuods 
because they had been forced to pa\- tribute to them for a 
number of years or be destroved bv the Pecpiod warriors. Not- 
withstanding this hatred, they were so terrified b\ the power 
of the Pequods that they were afraid that the I'aiglisb could 
not defeat them, and in fear dropped behind as Mason 
approached the fort, and gave no assistance in the attack. The 
Pequods were completely surprised. The Knglisb set the 
village on fire by throwing firebrands among the wigwams, 




John Endicott 



58 The Thirteen Colonies 

and killed those who attempted to escape. But five succeeded 
in getting' away. All the rest, ahout seven hundred, were 
either shot or hurned to death in the village. The few remain- 
ing members of the tribe not in the fort were either killed or 
forced to join the other tribes. Thus in less than an hour the 
Pequod nation was destroyed. 

The Pe(|uods had ruled over and terrified the Indians in 
New England for years. Their very name was feared by the 
other tribes. The total destruction of this powerful nation 
by a mere handful of English soldiers served as a terrible 
example to the other Indians of New England. They had 
never seen anything like this before. The important result 
was that the English were safe from attacks for nearly forty 
years. Not until another generation had grown up did the 
Indians venture to make another attack on the English. 

44. Treatment of the Indians by the Puritans. — While 
the Puritans were very severe in their treatment of die Indians 
in time of actual warfare, their dealings with them before 
the Pequod War, and from that time until King Philip's War 
in 1675, were, as a rule, honorable, and in many cases even 
kind. All the land which the}- occupied except that taken 
from the Pequods was bought from the Indians and paid for 
scrupulously. A brisk trade sprang up betw-een the tw'o races, 
the Indians exchanging furs for English goods. Through the 
efforts of Dr. Eliot and other missionaries, about four 
thousand Indians were converted to the Christian religion and 
settled in villages. Most of these, however, were from the 
Massachusetts and Wampanoag tribes, two of the smallest and 
weakest in New England. The Puritans also endeavored to 
educate the Indians, but their efforts met with little success, 
although one Indian actually graduated from Harvard College 
in l()()o. 

45. The Englishman and the Indian Did not Understand 
Each Other. — I'nder such conditions the people of most races 
would have adopted the civilization of the whites and have 
settled down to an industrious and peaceful life. But the 
Indian's nature was too wild and independent to permit this. 
The Indian and the Puritan did not understand each other. 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 59 

The Indians had no conception of what private ownership of 
land meant. They owned their land in common, and no 
uncivilized Indians ever thought of calling a certain piece of 
land his own. If a tribe by treaty or agreement secured 
territory belonging to another tribe, it was understood that 
only the right to hunt and fish was transferred. When the 
Indians sold a piece of land to the Puritans, they did not 
understand that they had forever lost the right to the land. 
They did not realize for a long time that the constant selling 
of land would finally compel them to' leave New England. 
When the Indians saw and understood that the constant 
increase in the number of English in New England meant the 
loss of country to them, they very naturally became unfriendly 
to the whites. Another thing that made them dislike the 
whites was the custom of the governments of some of the 
colonies of calling before them the Indian chief of a tribe and 
demanding of him an explanation for some unfriendly or 
unjust act which was supposed to have been committed by him- 
self or members of his tribe. To the Indians this looked like 
subjection, and they loved freedom too much to submit wil- 
lingly to this. 

46. King Philip's War: (a) Orit^in. — In 1660 Massasoit, 
chief of the Wampanoag Indians, died. He had been a good 
friend to the English ever since he made the treaty with the 
Pilgrims in 1621. Massasoit left two sons, Alexander and 
Philip. Alexander became chief of the tribe. The English 
heard that he was unfriendly, and summoned him to appear 
before the General Court at Plymouth. He came, but on his 
way home suddenly took sick with a severe fever and died. 
His brother Philip, who then became chief of the Wampanoags, 
suspected that the English had poisoned Alexander, and he 
determined to have revenge. Philip's tribe was small, but he 
succeeded in securing the assistance of the Narragansetts and 
the Nipmucks, and in 1675. thirty-eight years after the destruc- 
tion of the Pequods, war again broke out between the Indians 
and the English. 

(b) The War and Its Results. — This war lasted until 1678 
and is known in history as King Philip's War. It was a much 



6o The Thirteen Colonies 

more serious affair than the trouble with the Pequods had 
been. More than four thousand Indian warriors were 
determined to drive the EngUsh from their old hunting 
grounds. The Pequods had had no guns with w^hich to fight ; 
but Philip's warriors had succeeded in securing muskets from 
the English, and many of them were excellent marksmen. 

The results of this war were very serious to both sides. Out 
of ninety towns in Massachusetts, twelve were totally ruined 
and forty more were seriously attacked and much property in 
them destroyed. More than a thousand English soldiers were 
killed either in battle or by torture, and many women and 
children were scalped and killed. During the three years of 
the war all New England was in constant fear of an Indian 
attack. The colonies were compelled to incur a heavy debt in 
order to meet the expenses of the war, and it was years before 
this was paid off. The war was much harder on the Indians 
than it was on the English. The three tribes engaged in it 
were almost entirely destroyed. King Philip and Canonchet, 
chief of the Narragansetts. and most of the Indian warriors 
were killed. Large numbers of Indian women and children 
also died, some from want of food, but many were killed by 
the English when on Sunday afternoon, December 19, 1675, 
they attacked and destroyed the fortified village of the 
Narragansetts and killed a thousand of their warriors. At the 
close of the war the Puritans sold many of the Indians into 
slavery in the West Indies : among those thus sold was the 
young son of King Philip. The commanders of the English 
forces were usually opposed to this policy, but the Puritan 
ministers were among its strongest supporters. 

The end of King Philip's War marks the end of the Indian 
power in New England. This war was a cruel and desperate 
contest between the people of a weak race that had owned the 
soil and the invaders who belonged to a stronger and higher 
civilization. As is usually the case, the weaker race and the 
weaker civilization were compelled to give way to the higher 
and more vigorous. 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 6i 



Under the Royal Governors 

47. Massachusetts Loses Her Charter. — The quarrel be- 
tween the English kings and the Massachusetts Bay Company, 
which resulted in the overthrow of the company's charter and 
government in 1()84, began in 1033. In 1G22 Ferdinando 
Gorges and John Mason were granted all the land extending 
from the Kennebec River in Maine to the Merrimac in 
Massachusetts. Later tbey divided this territory between 
them, Gorges taking what is now the state of Maine and 
Mason what is now the state of New Hampshire. This grant 
of land to Mason and Gorges is an important fact in the 
historv of Massachusetts. Tliese two men and their heirs 
frequently complained to the king that the Massachusetts Bay 
colony was interfering with their rights, and thus gave him an 
excuse for attacking the government of the colony. 

(a) first Attacks on the Charter. — As early as 1()33 
Mason and Gorges, and some men who had been banished from 
the colony because they opposed the religious and political 
ideas of the Puritans, told the king that the people of the 
Massachusetts Bay colony intended to rebel and become in- 
dependent. As King Charles I hated both the religious and 
the political ideas of the Puritans, he gladly availed himself 
of this excuse, and in 1G35 demanded that the company's 
charter be annulled and surrendered. But Mason died, and 
Charles got into trouble with the English people at home over 
taxes, so for the time being the fight against the government 
of the Massachusetts Bay colony was dropped. In 1()3S 
another demand was ma(;le on the Massachusetts Bay colony 
for the surrender of her charter. She politely but firmly 
refused to comply with the demand, and as the English people 
were preparing to rebel against the despotic rule of the king 
at home, no army could be sent against the colony to compel 
obedience. War broke out in England in '[C>42 between the 
armies of the king and the armies raised by Parliament. 

(b) The Confederacy and the C oniniomvealth. — When the 
news of the war reached Massachusetts, her public officers no 



62 The Thirteen Colonies 

lonf;;cr administered justice in the name of the kino^, nor took 
the oath of alleg-iance to him. The next year, ICA'A, the New 
England Confederacy was formed, and ffom that date until 
1G49, when the king's armies were defeated and he was 
beheaded, New England was practically independent of all 
outside power. From 1G49 to KiHO Oliver Cromwell and 
Parliament ruled England without a king, and during this time 
New England continued to conduct her affairs about as she 
pleased, with very little interference from the home govern- 
ment. Oliver Cromwell died in KJoS. During his short 
control of affairs he had made England more respected in 
Europe than it had ever been before. After his death the rule 
of Parliament became weak and unpopular. In 1660 Charles 
II, son of Charles I who had been beheaded in 1649, was 
invited to become king. 

(c) Quarrels between King Charles II and Massaehu- 
setts. — When this news reached New England, the Massachu- 
setts Bay colony waited three months before sending an 
address to the king, and fifteen months before proclaiming him 
king. In 1662 Charles demanded, but very courteously, that 
all public ofBcers take the oath of allegiance to him ; that all 
laws opposed to his authority be repealed ; that all those who 
wished to worship according to the forms of the Episcopal 
church be permitted to do so; and that those laws which pre- 
vented a man from voting because he was not a member of the 
Puritan church be repealed. The colony complied with the 
first demand and administered justice in the king's name, but 
she did not comply with t'he other three demands. In 1664 
England sent over four commissioners to direct the capture 
of New York (New Netherland) from the Dutch. These 
commissioners were also directed to investigate conditions in 
the New England colonies, and especially to see whether the 
Massachusetts Ray colony was complying with the demands 
which had been made by King Charles. They found every- 
thing satisfactory in Connecticut and Rhode Island, but the 
Massachusetts Bay colony refused to give them any definite 
information on these subjects and finally defied them. The 
commissioners made a strong report to the king against the 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 63 



colony; but war with Holland and trouble at home compelled 
him to postpone action ag'ainst Massachusetts until IHTo. 

(d) TJie Charter Finally Annulled. — The Massachusetts 
Bay colony had annexed New Hampshire and Maine. The 
heirs of the proprietors, Mason and Gorges, claimed that this 
territory belonged to them. In 1075 Edward Randolph was 
sent over to investigate these claims, to see if the colony was 
carrying out the demands made on her by the king, and to see 
whether the people generally were satisfied with the govern- 
ment of the colony. The English courts decided that the 
Massachusetts Bay colony had no right to the territory of 
either New Hampshire or Maine. The colony, however, did 
not intend to give up any 
of this territory, neither 
did it intend to permit 
men not members of the 
Puritan church to vote, 
or people to worship ac- 
cording to the forms and 
doctrines of the Episcopal 
church. Randolph re- 
ported all these things to 
the king, and stated that 
the king's orders were of 
no more value in Massa- 
chusetts than an article in 
a London newspaper. 

This attitude of the 
colony highly provoked 
King Charles, and he de- 
cided to compel it to submit. New Hampshire was made a 
royal province, and its governors were appointed by the king 
until ITTO. Alassachusctts was commanded to remove all re- 
ligious restrictions on the suffrage and to permit the Episcopal 
form of worship. The demands were not com]:)lied with, and 
in 1084 the charter, which had been granted to the Massachu- 
setts Bay colony in 1(538, was annulled In' the English courts. 
During the next year Charles H died and his brother James 




Go\T!RNOR AnDROS 



64 The Thirteen Colonies 

l)ccamc king. King James appointed Sir Edmund Andros 
the first royal governor of Massachusetts. Until he arrived, 
a temporary government was formed under Dudley, who had 
always lived in Massachusetts, but who was opposed to the 
Puritan ideas of church and state. 

Massachusetts felt the loss of her charter keenly, for she 
had always enjoyed almost complete independence, making and 
executing such laws as she desired. It must not be supposed, 
however, that the people of Massachusetts had enjoyed free 
government in the broad sense. None but members of the 
Puritan church could vote, and it is said that at the time the 
charter was annulled more than two-thirds of the men in the 
Massachusetts liay colony were not members of the Puritan 
church, and therefore could not vote or take any part in the 
government. This meant that a minority of the people 
governed the majority. Many of those who were not Puritans 
were strongly opposed to this, and were not sorry when the 
charter was annulled, h'or this reason the colony did not make 
a united o])position when the charter was attacked. 

48. The Despotic Rule of Andros. — The action of Andros 
soon tended to unite the people. His rule was of the most 
despotic character. He even took away from the towns the 
right to levy taxes, and levied and collected all taxes himself. 
He ordered that all deeds should be registered in Boston and 
that defective titles to land nuist be confirmed by him. Although 
there was nothing wrong in this, the heavy fee charged, and 
the threat to hold all private titles to land invalid, exasperated 
the people. By the Knglish law a man arrested may demand a 
trial at once. Andros suspended this law, and he could then 
arrest people and kee]i llieni in jail tor any length of time with- 
out gixing them a chance to i)ro\t' they were innocent. 

49. Rhode Island and Connecticut Secure Royal Char- 
ters. — When Connecticul and Ixliode Island heard that Charles 
had become king, they did not do as Massachusetts had done. 
I%ach sent a ])leasing and llattcring address to him, and as a 
result each secured a charter which provided for a very liberal 
form of government, lender these charters the people of each 
colony elected their governors and members of the legislature. 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 65 

They could pass any law that did not conflict with the laws of 
England. The Connecticut charter remained in effect until 
ISl.S, forty-two years after the colonies became the United 
States, and the charter granted to Rhode Island remained in 
effect until IS 12. Much against the will of the people of New 
Haven that colony was annexed to Connecticut, and the history 
of New Haven as a separate colony thus came to an end in 
1662. New Haven had been a strong Puritan colony, and as 
Charles disliked the Puritans, he was glad to annex it to 
Connecticut. Rhode Island and Connecticut were both re- 
quired to prevent no one from voting on account of his religi- 
ous belief. But they did not object to this. 

As King James wished to unite all the northern colonies 
under one man and one government, New York, New Jersey, 
and New Hampshire were placed under Andros. A short 
time before, the charter of Rhode Island and Connecticut had 
been rescinded but not formally annulled by the English courts, 
and these colonies also were placed under the arbitrary rule of 
Andros. Fortunately for New England, the king was just as 
despotic and unjust with his people in England as he was with 
his people in America. 

50. Overthrow of King and Andros; Massachusetts Se- 
cures New Charter. — In 1C88 the English rose in rebellion. 
King James fled to France, and by invitation of the English 
people, William of Orange came over from Holland and be- 
came king of England. When the people of Massachusetts 
heard of the rebellion in England, they arrested Governor 
Andros and placed him in prison. Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut re-established governments under their old charters, 
and no further attempt was made by an English king to annul 
these liberal charters which the people of these two colonies 
loved so well. Massachusetts hoped that the new king would 
grant her a charter that would also provide for a liberal form 
of government, but she was disappointed. She was granted a 
new charter, however, which gave her the right to elect a 
legislature or law-making body, and which provided that no 
taxes could be levied except by the legislature. The people of 
Massachusetts, therefore, could not be taxed except by them- 



66 The Thirteen Colonies 

selves — a right dear to all Enj^lishmen. and one which the 
people of all the colonies were detennined to have. The charter 
also provided that no man should be (.lenied the right to vote or 
to take part in the government because of his religfious ideas. 
Under the old charter the governor was elected by the people : 
but under the new charter he was appointed by the king. All 
laws passed by the legislature had to be sent to the king for 
his approval before they became etfective. This was not so 
liberal a government as that enjoyed by the people of Rliode 
Island and Connecticut, but the people of Massachusetts had 
to live luider it imtil the Revolution, when all the colonies be- 
came independent of England. As the new charter annexed 
the colony of PlxTiiouth and the territon,- of Maine to the 
Massachusetts Bay colony, the people of these two places also 
lived imder the government of this charter. 

51. New England from 1689 to 1776. — From lt»S9 to 
IT To Massachuseus and Xew Hampshire were governed by 
royal governors who were appointeti by the English kings, 
and by a legislature elected by the people. During the greater 
part of this time the governors and the people were quarreling 
about taxes and laws. All these quarrels caused the people to 
care less and less for the mother country and sened to pre- 
pare them for complete separation from England. During this 
time Connecticut and Rhode Island continued to enjoy the lib- 
eral government provided by their charters, and as a rule had 
verv little trouble with the home government. 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 

Ts^'ew York 

53. Discovery and Settlement. — As has already been 
stated, men tirst came to \irginia on account of the love of 
adventxire and for the purpose of building homes for themselves 
and their children, and that certain religious ideas brought 
men to Xew England. Xew York was founded purely for 
trading purposes. This territory was first discovered by 
Henr>- Hudson, an English sailor employed by the Dutch East 



Origin, Growth, and Political History (:)'] 



India Company. In 1009 he discovered the river which now 
bears his name, bnt which was then called North River, and 
explored the country bordering- on it. Valuable furs could be 
obtained very cheaply from the Indians ; and the Dutch, who 
were traders and had established trading posts all over the 
world, immediately 
began to send set- 
tlers into this coun- 
try to secure this 
trade. 

The first settle- 
ment was made on 
Manhattan Island 
in the year 1014, 
and other towns 
soon sprang into 
existence u n d e r 
the direction of 
the New Nether- 
land C o m p a n y, 
which was organ- 
ized by some of 
the early traders 
who had a mo- 
nopoly of the trade 
for three years. 
Later a larger and 
more powerful 
Company, called 
the Dutch West 
India Company, 

was organized, and by 1020 had made settlements along the 
Hudson from Albany to the mouth of the river, as well as on 
Long Island and Manhattan Island. Manhattan Island, the site 
of the main part of the present city of New York, was pur- 
chased by the Dutch from the Indians in IGSO for "about 
twenty-four dollars' worth of beads and ribbons." The entire 
country was called New Netherlands and the chief town of the 




Henry Hudson's Vessel, the Half Moon, 
IN THE Hudson River 



68 The Thirteen Colonies 

colony on Manhattan Island was iiivon the name of New 
Anistenlam. 

53. Character of Colonists and Growth of Colony. — While 
this tcrriiory was clainioil ami held hy the nutoii, the settlers 
came from all parts of Kiirope. The population was very 
mixed ; all religions were tolerated ; many languages were 
spoken. These first settlers were not real colonists in the 
sense that they intended to nlake homes for themselves and 
their children. They came simply for trading. But the 
company wished to colonize this entire territory and to develop 
agriculture as well as commerce. In order to accomplish this, 
an agreement was made in l(5'-?9 whereby any member of this 
company bringing to Xew Xetherland fifty permanent settlers 
and establishing a colony was given a tract of land with sixteen 
miles frontage on the Hudson. The men receiving these 
grants were called patroons. and the estates thus granted pat- 
roonships. Wliile this scheme brought in a good many colon- 
ists at the time, in the long run it proved a drawback to the 
growth of the entire colony, atul real prosperity and. healthy 
growth did not begin until the trade was thrown open to all. 
anil cheap ownership of land promised in small holdings. 
Then many excellent men and women both from the English 
colonies in America and from Europe came in. and the country 
was settled rapidly. In l(i.*v'> the territory lying south of the 
Delaware, or South River, which had been settled by Swedes, 
was conquered by the Dutch and added to Xew Xetherland. 
At this time the Dutch claims extended from the Delaware to 
the Connecticut River, and from Albany, or Fort Orange as 
it was called, to Delaware r>ay. 

54. Government under the Dutch. — While Xew York was 
imder control of the Dutch the people had very little voice in 
the government. The governor was appointed by the company, 
and although he had a council to advise him. he really had all 
the power of government in b.is own hands. Most of the 
governors were not able men. and in many cases they were 
dishonest and unprincipled. Peter Stuyvesant stands out as 
the ablest of them all. He was an honest and energetic man. 
but very despotic and much disliked because of his harsh 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 69 



mantier of making- and enforcing laws. Although his rule 
was arbitrary, and he paid little attention to the rights of the 
people, the colony more than doubled its wealth and population 
under his administration. It was under his direction that the 
Swedish colony at the mouth of the Delaware was conquered 
and annexed to New Xetherland. He was not so successful. 
however, in enforcing the Dutch claims to the territor\- hing 
east of the Hudson, for the English colonies were too strong 
to allow him to advance his control t(^ the Connecticut River. 
55. The Colony under English Control: (a) Conquest 
by the Bnglisli. — The Xew Xelheiiand territor}- by its position 
divided the English 
colonies into two 
parts, and for that 
reason, as well as on 
account of the value 
of its position com- 
mercially, the English 
had long desired to 
gain possession of it. 
So in l(i(U, although 
F.ngland and Holland 
A\ere not at w a r, 
Charles II sent over a 
small lleet to New 
Amsterdam to de- 
mand the surrender 
of the entire colony. 
Stuyvesant, w h i 1 e 
taken by surprise, 
wished to defend the 
city, but could not 
rouse the settlers to make any resistance. The h'.nglish offered 
good terms, including protection of personal rights and repre- 
sentative government, and it is not strange that the people were 
glad to accept, for they had enjoyed none oi these rights under 
Dutch rule. In l(iT:> the Dutch again obtained control of this 
territorv, but held it onlv one \ear. 




Peter Stuvvesant 



yo 



The Thirteen Colonies 



(b) Under the Duke of York. — Xew Xetherland was 
gjaiiteti by King: Charles to his brother James. Duke of York 
and Albany, and the names of the colony and chief town were 
changed to Xew York, and that of Port Orange to Albany. 
The duke immediately granted the southern part of the 
territory to two English noblemen as a separate proxnnce under 
the name of Xew Jersey. Richard Xicolls was made grovemor 
of Xew York. He drew up a co<.ie of laws which was based 
on those, of Xew England, but which did not give the people 
of the conquered territory as many rights in the government 
as they had in X*ew England. The pev^ple were not allowed to 




The BAriEKv. Xew Yojix. in ihe ij-zii CiMrsY 

elect representatives until li»S3, when they receivevl a chaner 
providing for the election of an assembly of eigliteen. who were 
to act with the appointevi governor and council in the govern- 
ment of the colony. Xo tax cv>uld K^ levied without the con- 
sent of the assembly, but no act could become a law without 
the approval of the Duke of York. WTiile this appeared to be 
liberal, it really amounteii to nothing : for the duke was opjx^sed 
to a liberal fonn of gcvvennrcnt aiid never gave his assent 
to anv act of the assemblv. 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 71 

(c) Under the Royal Goicniors. — In loSTi the duke was 
crowned king" of Kns^kmd as James 11. atul Xew York thus 
became a royal province. The kini^- took away the charter of 
the colony and placed many restrictions on the rights of the 
people. From this time until the Revolution the government 
was carried on as in the other royal colonies, that is. with a 
governor and council appointed hy ilie king and an assembly 
elected by the people. There was constant trouble between 
the assembly and the governor. At one time the opposition 
broke out into ojien rebellion, and for two years the colony 
was ruled by Jacob l.eisler, the leader of the popular party. 
After this, the assembly, the law-making body elected by the 
people, was treated with more respect by the royal go\ernors ; 
but the people of the colony never had as nnich real influence 
in making laws as did the people of the other colonies. 

New Jersey 

56. Origin and Growth in Population. — The first settlers 
of the territory later called Now Jersey were Dutch from Xew 
York, about 1(>1T. The first settlements, however, were not 
of nuich importance in the early history of the colony. The 
real history of the colony begins in KUit. when the English 
conquered Xew Xetherland. At this time the Duke of Y'ork 
granted the part between Xew York Harbor and Delaware Bay 
to Lord IV^rkeley and Sir George Carteret, giving it the name 
Xew Jersey. Settlers came in from Xew York. X'ew England, 
and Europe, and the province grew rapidly. The population 
of the colony numbered seventy-five thousand people in IT (50. 
and by 1T7'> it hail reached nearly one hundred thousand. 

57. Political History. — \\hen Lord Berkeley and Sir 
George Carteret received the grant of Xew Jersey, they estab- 
lished a form of government for the province by a document 
known as the '"Concessions." This document promised 
religious freedom and a liberal government under a governor 
and council appointed by the proprietors and an assembly 
elected bv the freemen. Because of conflicting claims and 



72 The Thirteen Colonies 

trouble in qnvcniinir;' tlie colony. Lord IV^rkclcv sold his share 
to the Oiiakers, and the ])rovince was divided into Hast and 
West Jerse_v. The Quakers ort^anized the western part with a 
very liberal g'overnment, consisting^ of a body of commissioners 
and an assembly, both chosen by the people. East Jersey was 
organized with the same kind of g^ovcrnment as the whole 
province had had imder the "Concessions." In lf)S2 William 
Penn and some men associated with him boug^ht the Carterets' 
rights to East Jersey and became its proprietors. Both pro- 
vinces were continually having- tr()u))le about their relations to 
the proprietors and to the king-, and the people came to dislike 
thoroug;hly the proprietary form of g;overnment. In 1702 
the proprietors gave u]) their rights, and the two provinces 
were united and placed directly under tiie control of the crown. 
It was g-ovcrned from that time on in the same manner as New 
York and the other royal provinces. 

Delaware 

58. Settlement; Growth and Changes. — As early as lfi2;> 
attempts were made by the Dutch to settle the country along 
the Delaware River and the Delaware I'ay, but nothing- 
permanent was done. The first settlement of any importance 
in this territory was established by Sweden on the southern 
bank of the river, in IGoS. This territory was taken bv the 
Dutch, however, in 1()55 and added to the province of New 
Netherland. When the Dutch in turn were conquered by the 
English, Delaware passed under English control. It remained 
a part of New York until 1(;S2, when William Penn obtained a 
grant to it and governed it as a part of Pemisylvania. In 1702 
Delaware organized a separate legislature and became a 
separate province, but it remained under the governor of 
Pennsylvania until the colonies secured their independence. 

Pennsylvania 

59. Origin and Growth in Population. — William Penn, the 
founder of Pennsylvania, brst became interested in establishing 



Origin, Growth, and Political History 73 

a colony in America through his interest in the Quakers who 
had settled in West Jersey. Through his father, who was a 
rich and well-known naval officer and in high favor at the 
English court, William Penn had a good opportunity to become 
prominent in the public affairs of England ; but he chose instead 
to become the leader of the Quakers, a religious sect which 
was much hated and persecuted. Resides his interest in the 
Quakers, Penn had other reasons for founding a colony in 




M!^**h-^& 



i'tXX MAKING A TkEATV WITH THE INDIANS 

America. He had inherited a debt of about eighty thousand 
dollars due his father from the English government. 
Charles II had little ready money, so Penn was glad to take 
in payment a grant of land. 

In 1G81, therefore, Charles II granted him forty thousand 
square miles of land extending from the Delaware River west- 
ward — almost exactly the territory now included in Pennsyl- 
vania. He named the territory Pennsylvania (Penn's wood- 
land), in honor of his father. As his colony had no seacoast, 



74 



The Thirteen Colonies 



Penn bought the rights to Delaware from the Diike of York 
and governed it as part of Pennsylvania. The southern boun- 
dary of Pennslyvania was uncertain and caused many dis- 
putes with the Calverts, the proprietors of Maryland. An 
agreement was made in 17:52 between the heirs as to the 
boundarx, and l)t1ween 17();5 and 17()7 the line of division 
was finally determined by two F.nglish surveyors, Charles 
Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. This line, called the Mason and 




jjitfiiiiiVflh? Vfit'AvW' J?! Ci'C-iff. i?v-rvC»-«<' *»%*•_< 

The Opening Lines of the Pennsylvania Charter, showing 

Dixon line, is famous because the line which later marked 
the division between free and slave territory was sometimes 
called by this name. 

Penn put his plan before the people, promising them just 
government, religious freedom, protection in their personal 
rights, and cheaj) land. As a result, large numbers of Quakers 
from h'ngland and settlers from all ])arts of luirope, especially 
Germany, came to this new territory at once, and Penn himself 
with a company of one hundred followed in the next year. 
Philadelphia was founded by Penn in KiS:] and grew rapidly 
into a city. The growth of tliis colony was the most ra]M<l in 
the history of the American colonies. By KiSf) Philadelphia 
alone had two thousand inhabitants and the colony eight 
thousand. Pv 17.")() there were about two hundred thousand 



Origin, Growth, and Political History y ^ 



people in the colony, and at the time of the Revolution the 
combined population of Delaware and Pennsylvania had 
reached four hundred thousand. 

60. Government in Early Pennsylvania: (a) Under 
Pcnn. — When King Charles II granted Pennsylvania to 
William Penn, some restrictions were placed on the latter's 
powers of government, the most important being that all laws 
must be approved by the king, and that the king might tax the 



5^T> r% ;,^ #^ >» L,. 



W -^-Tfej; 



LWhh 




Ornamental Border and Portrait of Charles II 

people of the province directly. These restrictions were made 
because there had been so much trouble with some of the other 
colonies on these two points. But the king did not interfere 
very much with the government of the colony. As soon as 
Pcmi arrived in America, he established a very democratic 
form of government, placing nearly all the power in the hands 
of the colonists. The law-making power was given to a 
legislature of two houses, the members of both being elected 
by the people. Penn himself acted as governor, but did not 
try to keep much power, not even the right to veto acts of the 
legislature. Nearly all officers were elected by the people, 
while in Maryland and in the royal colonies they were usually 
appointed by the governor or king. 



76 



The Thirteen Colonies 



Pcnn had some trouble with the colonists in regard to money 
matters, and made changes in the constitution, taking away 
some of the power given them. For two years after King 
James was deposed, Pennsylvania was put under a royal 
governor with New York, but Penn was restored to power at 
the end of this period. Delaware was dissatisfied with her 
share in the government, and in 1712 was granted a separate 
legislature, although she had the same governor as Pennsyl- 
vania. 

(b) Under Deputy Governors. — At the close of the 
century, just before he left America to live in England, Penn 
granted a new constitution. This constitution was almost as 
liberal as the one granted at the time the colony was first 
settled. The assembly elected by the people had the power 
to make all laws, and the governor and council appointed by 
the proprietor were merely advisory. When Penn left the 
colony in 1701, he left a deputy governor and secretary in 
charge. As most of the descendants of Penn preferred to live 
in England, only one coming to America and acting as gover- 
nor, the goverrment of the colony was carried on in this 
manner during the rest of the colonial period. There was 
constant trouble between the deputy governors and the assem- 
bly in regard tc* making laws and raising money, and these 
quarrels tended to injure the colony. It was during this time 
that Benjamin Franklin came into prominence as the leader 
of the popular party. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 

THE SOUTHERN COLONIES 
Questions for Class REtriATioNS 

(Tn connection with the questions on the "Origin, Growth, and 
Political History of the Thirteen Colonies," each pupil should read 
the first number of Hart's "Source Readers in American His- 
tory," pp. 55-162. See "Explanatory and Suggestive," p. ix.) What 
caused the English to renew their attempts to colonize in the New 
World? Explain the relations between the Virginia Company and 
its two branches, — the London and the Plymouth companies. De- 



Questions and Topics "j^j 

scribe the government whicli tlic general charter provided for these 
three companies. What territory was granted to the Virginia Com- 
pany? What part of this territory was granted at first to each of 
its branch companies? (Eacli pupil should draw a map that will 
show plainly the territory granted to the main or Virginia Com- 
pany, and the subgrants of this territory to the London and Ply- 
mouth companies.) WHiat was the object of the London Company 
in sending settlers to America? Describe the condition of the 
Jamestown settlement during the first year, and the work of John 
Smith. What was the character of the early settlers? Why did 
they come to the New World? Describe. the government of the 
colony under Thomas Dale, and the condition of the colony under 
his rule. 

What is representative government? Describe its origin 'in 
America. What is a royal province or colony? Explain care- 
fully how and why Virginia became a royal province. Did this 
change affect the law-making power of the people? Describe in a 
general way the relations between the royal governors and the 
people. What were the general results of these relations? How 
long was Sir William Berkley governor of Virginia? What caused 
his term of office as governor to be divided? For what two things 
was his long rule especially noted? Describe Bacon's Rebellion, 
discussing its cause and results. 

Discuss the origin of Maryland and its growth in population. 
Contrast Virginia and Maryland with regard to the object of settle- 
ment. What is a proprietary colony? Describe the difference be- 
tween the proprietary colony Maryland and the royal province 
Virginia in regard to the selection of governor. Contrast IMary- 
land and Virginia in regard to the rights and powers the people 
had in the government of each colony. Explain carefully how re- 
li/jious disputes affected the political history of Marjdand. De- 
scribe the relations of Virginia and Maryland. 

Describe the origin of North and South Carolina and their 
growth in population. Compare the granting of this territory with 
the granting of Virginia to the London Company. What is the 
form of government that first existed in the Carolinas called? De- 
scribe the character of the early settlers. Why did they settle in 
these two colonies? What rights did the people of these two col- 
onies have in the government when it was first organized? Ex- 
plain carefully how the religious beliefs of the people affected their 
political rights. Explain carefully to what extent the people con- 
trolled government in these two colonies. What caused these two 
colonies to become royal provinces? Describe briefly the growth 
of these colonies, giving the names and locations of the larger 
towns. 



78 



The Thirteen Colonies 



Describe tlic origin and growth of Georgia, and give the reason 
for its setttlement. What was the cliaractcr of its early settlers? 
Describe the growth of this colony. Why was the colony not more 
prosperous? What powers did the people have in llic govern 
ment? In what way was South Carolina benefited by the founding 
of Georgia? WHien and why did Georgia become a royal province? 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Discuss the object of the settlement and the character of the 
settlers of each of the southern colonies. Compare these colonies 
with respect to growth in wealth and population. Discuss the 
origin of representative governnunt in America. Compare the 
southern colonies with respect to the rights of the people in gov- 
ernment. Discuss the relations between the royal governors and 
the people. (Each pupil should draw a map of the southern colon- 
ies. This map should show the boundaries and the more import- 
ant cities, mountains, and rivers of each colony.) 



THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES 
Questions for Class Recitations . 

Explain carefully why King Henry VTII had himself declared the 
head of the Catholic church in h^ngland. Did he wish to destroy or 
make many changes in the doctrines of the church? Flow did the 
Episcopal church come to be established? Describe the origin of 
the Puritans. Describe the origin of the Separatists. How did the 
Separatists dififer from the Puritans? How were the Puritans and 
Separatists treated? Why did the Separatists go to Holland? 
Why did they wish to leave Holland and go to America? Why 
were they called Pilgrims? Did they intend to settle in Massa- 
chusetts? Describe the first year of the life of the Plymouth col- 
ony. Explain carefully the conditions that caused the Puritans to 
wish to leave England and come to America. How did the Puri- 
tans obtain land in America? What settlements were made by the 
Puritans in Massachusetts? Compare the growth of the Plymouth 
colony with that of the Massachusetts Bay colony. Describe the 
origin and growth of the Connecticut colony. Describe the origin 
and growth of the New Haven colony. How did the Connecticut 
and New Haven colonies become united? What caused the settle- 
ment of Rhode Island? Tell what you can about. Roger Williams 
and Anne Hutchinson. Describe the growth of Rhode Island. 
What was the character of the first settlements in New Hampshire 
and Maine? 



Questions and Topics 79 

Compare the object of the settlers of New England with that of 
the settlers of Virginia in coming to America. Tell what you can 
about religious liberty in Massachusetts. What kind of govern- 
ment did the people of Massachusetts establish? Explain carefully 
how the life and government of the people were affected by the fact 
that they came over in congregations, each congregation settling 
together. Discuss the town meetings, explaining their nature, pow- 
ers, and who could take part in them. Tell what you can about the 
government provided for by the charter of Massachusetts. Tell 
what you can about the beginning of representative government in 
New England. Compare this with the beginning of representative 
government in Virginia. Show that it was not necessary in all the 
colonies for a man to be a church member in order that he might 
vote. Describe the government of Plymouth colony. Give a care- 
ful description of the government of Connecticut and Rhode Island. 
In what way did the government of Connecticut differ from that of 
all the other colonies? By a careful discussion show that in New 
England the people controlled the law-making branch of the gov- 
ernment. What caused the formation of the New England Con- 
federacy? Why was Rhode Island not admitted to this Confed- 
eracy? Describe the nature of the government provided for by the 
Confederacy. Why was it not a strong union? Of what value was 
the Confederacy? 

Explain carefully why the Indians at first did not trouble the Pil- 
grims. Explain carefully why later they became unfriendly. Dis- 
cuss the causes and results of the Pequod War. How did the Puri- 
tans treat the Indians as a rule? Why were the Indians and the 
Puritans not able to get along well together? Discuss the causes 
of King Philip's War. Compare this war with the Pequod War. 
Give a careful discussion of the results of King Philip's War, and 
explain how this war affected the future relations of the people of 
New England with the Indians. 

Explain carefully why Charles I di'sliked the Puritans. For what 
causes did the Puritans banish people from Massachusetts? De- 
scribe the quarrels between Massachusetts and Charles I. Dis- 
cuss the relations between New England and the English govern- 
ment during the time that Cromwell and Parliament ruled Eng- 
land. When Charles II became king, what demand did he make 
on the Massachusetts Bay colony? Were these demands reason- 
able? Explain fully all the conditions and circumstances that 
caused the charter of this colony to be annulled. Explain why 
many people in Massachusetts did not object to having the charter 
of their colony annulled. In what way did Governor Andros create 
strong opposition to his rule in Massachusetts? Explain all the 
circumstances and conditions that enabled Connecticut and Rhode 



8o The Thirteen Colonies 

Island to secure new cliarters at this time. Explain carefully the 
nature of tlie government for which these charters provided. Ex- 
plain carefully how the rule of Andros affected Connecticut and 
Rhode Island. Why did the king wish to unite all New England 
under one governor? Mow was the rule of Governor .\ndros 
brought to an end? l'>.\i)lain carefully the nature of the govern- 
ment provided for hy the new charter which the new king granted 
to Massachusetts. How did this charter affect Plymouth colony 
and Maine? Indicate briefly the condition of government in each 
of the New England colonies from 1689 to 1776. 

Questions for CoMrosiTiONS and Ex.\minations 

Discuss the religious conditions in England leading to the settle- 
ments of New England. Describe the settlement of each of the 
New England colonies. Compare the New England colonies with 
the southern colonies in respect to the object of their settlement 
and character of their settlers. Discuss the Puritan ideas of gov- 
ernment as shown in the government established in New England. 
Compare the New England and the southern colonies in respect 
to the power of the people in the government. Discuss the relation 
between the Indians and the settlers of New England. Discuss 
the annulling of the charter of the Massachusetts Bay colony. 
Compare the relations between the people and the royal governors 
in New England with those between the people and the royal gov- 
ernors in the southern colonies. 



THE MIDDLE COLONIES 

Questions for Class Recitations 

In what way did the Dutch secure New York. Compare the set- 
tlement of New York with that of Virginia and of Massachusetts 
as regards purpose of settlement. Why was New York at first 
called New Netherland? Describe the character of the early set- 
tlers. Describe the policy adopted for inducing settlers to come to 
the colony. Describe the government of New York by the Dutch. 
Tell what you can of the work of Peter Stuyvesant. Discuss the 
conquest of New York by the English. Explain carefully the con- 
ditions that caused New York to become a royal province. Com- 
pare the government of New York by the English with its govern- 
ment by the Dutch. Discuss the relations of the people with the 
royal governors. 

Describe the origin and growth of New Jersey. Describe the 
government established in this colony by the proprietors. Why 



Questions and Topics 8i 

was the colony divided? Describe fully the conditions which 
caused this colony to be made a royal province. Describe the 
origin and growth of Delaware. Give a full and careful explana- 
tion of the conditions that caused William Penn to found a colony 
in America. Describe the settlement of Pennsylvania and its 
growth in population. Why did Penn buy the right to Delaware? 
Explain the origin of the Mason and Dixon line and its relation to 
slavery. Describe the government established by Penn. Com- 
pare the rights of the people in the government of this colony with 
their rights in the government of the other colonies. Describe the 
government of the province under the deputy governors. 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Discuss the causes leading to the settlement of each of the mid- 
dle colonies, and compare them with the causes of the settlement 
of New England and the southern colonies. Compare each of the 
middle colonies with the New England and southern colonies in 
respect to government, bringing out the powers of the people in 
the government of each. Compare the middle with the southern 
and New England colonies in respect to the character of their set- 
tiers. Compare the growth of the middle colonies with the growth 
of the New England and the southern colonies. 



TTTK SOT.DTKR'v^ RKST 

Soldier, rest! 'J'liy warfare o'er, 

Sleep the sleep tliat knows not breaking; 

Dream of battled fields no niori\ 
Days of dangi'r, nij^hts of waking. 

In our isle's I'liohanted hall. 

Hands unseen thy couch are strewing; 
Fairy strains of music fall, 

Every sense in slumber dewing. 

Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o'er, 
Dream of fighting fields no more; 

Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking, 
Morn of toil, nor night of waking. 

No rude sound shall reach thine ear. 
Armor's cl.ang. or war-steed champing; 

Trump nor pibroch summon here 

Mustering clan, or stpiadron trani])ing. 

Yet the lark's shrill fife may come, 
At the daybreak, from the fallow, 

And the l>ittern sound his drum. 
Rooming from the sedgj^ shallow. 

Ruder sounds shall none be near; 

Guards nor wardens challenge here; 
Here's no war-steed's neigli and champing. 

Shouting clans, or scpiadrons stamping. 

—Sir Walter Scott 



THE THIRTEEN COLONIES 

THb: FRENCH IN NORTJI AMERICA 



THE THIRTEEN COLONIES 



THE FRENCH iN NORTH AMERICA 

I. The Spanisli in America 

II. I'^rcnch Explorations and Settlements 

ITT. Contrast of I'rench and English Colonics as to Purpose of 
Settlement 

TV. Relations of the French with the Indians 

1. Value of Indian ['"riendship 

2. Enmity of the Iroquois: Effect on Colonial History 

V. Early Conflicts between (he French and En.ulish 

1. Conditions Making Conllicts Inevitable 

2. Conditions Leading to English Success 

3. King William's, Queen .\nne's, and King George's Wars 

VI. The French and Indian War 

1. Scope and General Results 

2. Beginnings 

(a) French and English in the Ohio Valley 
(&) W^ashington's Defeat 

3. Weakness of Colonial Organization 

4. English Reverses 

(a) Braddock's Defeat 

(b) Other English Defeats 

5. The War under Pitt's Direction 
(a) His Vigorous Policy 

(&) Capture of Louisburg and Forts Frontenac and Du- 
qucsne 

(c) Capture of Quebec 

(d) Death of Wolfe and Montcalm 

(e) Treaty of Peace: Results of the War 



82 



The French in North America 83 



THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 

61. The Spanish in America. — While the Enp;-lish colonics 
were being established on the Atlantic seaboard between 
Florida and Canada, Spain and France also were planting- 
colonies in the New World. Spain secured considerable 
territory in South America, all of Central America, Florida, 
Mexico, and the territory which now comprises the south- 
western part of the United States, including California. The 
Spanish did not plant colonies in the same way, nor for the 
same purpose, as did the English. Their main purpose was 
not to establish homes, as was true of the English, but to secure 
the gold which they hoped to find here. They succeeded in 
securing an immense amount of gold and silver in Mexico and 
in Central and South America. They conquered, robbed, and 
enslaved the half-civilized Indians of these countries. As 
they found no gold in any of the territory which now com- 
prises the United States, the Spaniards made but few settle- 
ments north of Mexico or in Florida. St. Augustine in Florida 
was founded in 15G5 and Santa Fe in New Mexico in 1582. 
While these were the first permanent settlements made in what 
is now the United States, they are of little importance in 
American history. It was the Spanish claims to this territory 
that influenced American history, and not the settlements 
made. The defeat of the Spanish Armada weakened Spain's 
influence in the New W^jrld, and left the French the only serious 
rivals of the luiglish in North America. 

62. French Explorations and Settlements. — The bVencli 
explored and settled the territory north and west of the Eng- 
lish colonies. Cartier was the first great French explorer of 
this region. Between 1534 and 1544 he made several voyages 
to the country north of New York and New I^ngland, and ex- 
plored the St. Lawrence River and the territory adjoining, but 
made no permanent settlements. 

From 1544 to 1600 the French did very little toward explor- 
ing the country. But in 1603 Champlain, the second great 



84 



The Thirteen Colonies 



French explorer, made liis first visit to the territory explored 
by Cartier some sixty years before. From the time of this 
voyage until his death in HV.]~), Champlin devoted all his time 
and energy to exploring and settling the country north and 
west of New Fngland. He is justly called the "Father of New 
France." The tirst permanent settlement was Port Royal in 
Acatlia. founded in IdOK three years before Jamestown was 
founded in \'irginia. Quebec was founded in 1(508 and Mon- 
treal in Ifill. From these 
early settlements in Canaila. 
explorers and missionaries 
pushed on westward and 
southward into the region of 
the Great Lakes. It w-as by the 
missionaries, Joliet and Mar- 
quette, that the upper part of 
the Mississippi was discovered 
and partially explored in lOTo. 
The entire exploration of this 
great river was accomplished 
between 1079 and 1(:S'2 bv La 




Champlain 



Salle, one of the greatest of the early explorers, lie had, 
before this, discovered and partially explored the Illinois and 
C^hio rivers, and on completing his voyage down the .Missis- 
sippi he claimed all the territory drained by these rivers and 
their .tributaries for France, and named it Louisiana in 
honor of the bVench king, Louis Xl\'. 

The French Claims in North America in 1082 included, 
therefore, all the territory frt^m the Appalachian to the Rocky 
Mountains, the regi(Mi of the Great Lakes, and the cnuntry 
to the north of these lakes and of the luiglish colonies, includ- 
ing Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. 

63. Purpose of French Settlement; Contrast with the 
English. — The French settlements in North America were of 
a more permanent nature than those of the Spanish, but they 
were not like those of the English. The difference between the 
French and English colonies was due largely to the difference 
in the purpose of settlement. The English built up their 



The French in North America 



8s 



colonies for the purpose of making homes, for the purpose of 
creating a Httle England on this side of the ocean. They 
brought all their institutions with them, and insisted on having 
all the rights that Englishmen in England had. They con- 
sidered themselves just as much Englishmen as if they were 
living in England. The French settlements were more like 
military and trading posts than real colonies. The French 
came to America for the money to be derived from the fisheries 
and fur trade, and for the purpose of converting the Indians 
and gaining more territory for France. They made no real 
effort to build up in the New World the farming and city life 




An Eakly FKENtii Fort 



of France, and with the exception of Acadia no important 
farming community was estal)lished. The French colonists 
had practically no political rights. They were ruled by a mili- 
tary governor appointed by the king, whose main object was 
to develop the fur trade and lay claim to as much territory as 
possible for the French king. The explorers buried leaden 
plates throughout the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, on which 
were written statements claiming the territory for France. 
While the French were thus extending their claims over this 
vast territory, the English were quietly building up strong 
and prosperous farming communities on their strip of land 



86 The Thirteen Colonies 

along the Atlantic coast. The territory occupied by the English 
colonies was small compared with the vast territory claimed by 
the French, and yet, when the English defeated the French in 
the struggle for supremacy and compelled France to surren- 
der all of Canada and the territory east of the Mississippi, 
the total French population in all the French possessions in 
North America was less than one hundred thousand, while 
the population of the English colonies had reached almost 
two millions. This great dilTerence in population was the di- 
rect result of the difiference in purpose which the French and 
English had in planting colonies in the New World. 

64. Relations of French and Indians: (a) Value of In- 
dian Frioidsliip. — The fact that the French did not establish 
colonies for the same purpose as the English, but wished main- 
ly to secure the fur trade, had an important efifect on their 
relations with the Indians. The products of the farms and the 
fisheries, and the trade in these products and those of other 
countries, were the source of wealth and prosperity in the 
English colonies. The welfare of the English did not depend 
to any great extent on the friendship of the Indians, except 
as it might prevent the Indians from attacking the frontier 
settlements. It was ditlferent with the French. Their welfare 
depended largely on the fur trade, and as the Indians con- 
trolled most of this, it became necessary for the French to be 
on friendly terms with them. The small French trading sta- 
tions were far apart and scattered over a large territory. If 
the Indians in this territory were not friendly, they could 
easily destroy these trading posts and greatly injure the French 
fur trade. 

(b) Enmity of Iroqnois: Effect on Colonial History. — 
When Champlain explored the country along the St. Lawrence 
and between this river and Lake Huron, he found it occupied 
by two tribes of Indians, the Algon(|uins and the I lurons. 
The fur trade of this region depended on the friendship of 
these Indians, and Champhiin naturally desired to secure this 
friendship. He was very glad, therefore, to assist the Algon- 
quins in a fight against another tribe of Indians. The Algon- 
quins won an easy victory because their foes had never seen 



The French in North America 



87 



a while man nor heard a s'lin (Uscharg^cd. The hattle was a 
very small affair, hut it had a very important effect on the 
future of the l^'rench and En_qlish colonies. The Indians 
whom Champlain helped the Alj^onquins to defeat belonged 
to the Iroquois, or Five Nations, a confederacy of five Indian 
tribes. This was the most powerful Indian confederacy in 




ClIAMri.AlN's ATTAt^ K i)N AN luufjUOIS T'oUT 

North America and was composed of the Senecas, Oncidas, 
Mohawks, Onon(laij;-as, and Cayug-as. The hattle in which 
the lnK|Uois were defeated by the Alij;-on(|nins aided by Cham- 
plain, made the Iroquois the everlastinj:;^ enemies of the 
French and the friends of the Fnp:lish. As the Iroquois occu- 
pied the territory between the St. Lawrence country and the 
English on the seaboard, the French were compelled to estab- 



88 



The Thirteen Colonies 



lish their trading: posts to the west and south. The Troqiiois, 
therefore, prevented the French from occupyini^ the present 
state of New York, and from comin^^ in contact with the 
EngHsh. But if the Iroquois had been friendly with the 
French, there is no good reason to suppose that the French 
alone would have been able to do much harm to the English 
settlements, because the English colonists were always more 
numerous than the French, and were amply able to take care 
of themselves. The English would have had much more 
to fear from the Iroqtiois. The importance of Champlain's 
battle with the Iroquois, therefore, was the fact that it made 
these Indians the friends of the English and the enemies of 
the French. 




Early French Fur-traders on a Canadian River 

(c) French Success in Dealing icitli the hidiaus. — Had 
it not been for the battle referred to above, the French very 
likely would have succeeded in wi;ining the friendship of 
the Iroquois and using this strong confederacy against the 
r'nglish, for the French were very successful in making 
friends of the Indian tribes in the territory which they claimed. 
In fact, their ability to make allies of the Indians was the real 
source of their power. The French traders and missionaries 
treated the Indians with respect and in many cases adopted 
their customs ; while the English, on the other hand, treated 
them with open contempt as an inferior race. Throughout 



The French in North America 89 

colonial history in North America the French, as a rule, were 
more successful in dealing with the Indians than were the 
English. 

65. Early Conflicts Between the French and English: 
(a) Conditions Alaking Conflict Inevitable. — While the atti- 
tude of the Iroquois, or Five Nations, served to keep the 
English and French settlements apart for a while, and com- 
pelled the French to advance in another direction, it could not 
prevent the final conflict between the French and the English 
over the control of North America. It became the definite 
policy of France to claim as much of North America as 
possible. In addition to burying, leaden plates throughout 
this territory, proclaiming their possession, the French built 
forts or trading" posts so as to be able to say that they really 
occupied the country. The English, as has already been 
stated, came to the New World for the purpose of making 
homes. They cared very little how much territory France 
claimed so IC'Ug as they had enough for farming purposes, and 
so long as the French did not attempt to establish a trading 
post east of the Appalachian Mountains. 

A conflict between the French and English, however, was 
sure to come, because the English, as soon as they had occu- 
pied all the territory east of the Appalachians, began to pass 
over these mountains into the Ohio Valley. When the English 
began to do this, it became necessary for France and England 
to settle the question as to which of them should control North 
America. If the English occupied the Ohio Valley, the 
French in Canada would be separated from the French in the 
southern part of the IMississippi Valley. This would over- 
throw all of the French plans for a great empire in the New 
World, and France would not permit this without fighting. 
The French had long seen, more clearly than the English, 
that this conflict nuist come, and when the English settlers 
began to come over the Alleghanies, France knew that she 
must either drive them back or bid farewell to her plans and 
aspirations for colonial empire in the New World. France 
decided to settle the' question by war, and in the spring of 
175-i there beeran the final conflict which resulted in the total 



90 The Thirteen Colonies 

loss to iM-ancc of all this vast territory, and which made the 
J^iii;lish forever su|)rt-me in North America. 

(b) Conditions I, cad in :^ to Jini^lish Success. — From the 
time the ilrst .settlements were made there was never any real 
(jnestion as to which would finally win in tliis contest. France 
could not check the slow hut steady and substantial advance 
of the l'jiL;Iish iiUo the territor\' which she claimed, but did 
not settle, miless she (U'stroyed the lCni;lisii colonies. This 
the iM-eneh could not do, because durint:^ nearly all the colonial 
period there were twenty {'".ni^lishmen in America to every 
iMenchnian. The attempt of a colonial French army to sub- 
due or march throu.qh the Kn^-lish colonies would have re- 
sulted in its total di-struction. h'rance could and did send 
soldiers to America, but b'.n^land did the same. The l'<ni;lish 
colonists were a free, bra\e, and determined people. A few 
years latt'r they destroyt'd se\eral Ih-ilish armies and won 
their indep(.'ndence. JM'ance, certainly, coidd not defeat in the 
New World both h'nqland and her colonists. The iM-encli 
military occupation couUl not withstand the bome-buildiui;" 
b'ni^lish policy. 

(c) A'/'y/i,' William's, Onccn .Innc's and A'/h.i;' Gcori^c's 
Wars. — Althoui;h the final strui;i;le between France and Hnj::- 
land for the control of North America did not begin until 1751, 
the French and i^nglisb colonists, and the Indian allies of each, 
had been rii;litinj.;- twenty-six years. These twenty-six years 
of fightinj^- included th.ree different wars. The first, named 
after Kinji^ William of hjii^land, was known in .America as 
Kin^ William's War, and lasted from KIS!) to l(i!)7; the sec- 
ond, named after (Jueen Anne of bji<;lan(l, was known as 
Oueen Anne's War, and lasted from KOl to 171.'); the third, 
named after Kini;' George of Fngland, was known in America 
as King Cicorge's War, and lasted from 171.") to 17bS. All 
three of these wars began in b'urope, and were caused by 
trouble between France and b'ngland in Kurojx'. They were 
not caused by anything that happened in America. WMien the 
mother countries were at w^ar, it was perfectly natm-al that 
the colonists, their children in North America, should also 
do some fighting. The results of the fighting done in America 



The French in North America 



91 



were not very important. Tn each war the I'Vench and their 
Indian allies destroyed some of the Enj^lish settlements on the 
frontier and massacred the settlers, women and children as 
well as the men. Some of these were slowly burned to death 
or tortured in other ways. 

Tn King William's War, the first of these three wars, the 
I'rcnch defeated the Irofjuois and weakened their fisj^htinj^ 
power, but tluir strenj^^th was nearly restored when the 
Tuscaroras, a kindred tribe in North Carolina, came north 
and joined them. After this the Iroquois were known as the 



;**::»».**vr*«siir.'~sw»www^ 




The Fortkkss of Louisburg 

vSix Nations. Durinj^ this same war the Eni^lisli colonists 
laid siege to Quebec and Montreal, l)ut cfjuld not ca])ture 
either place. 

During Queen Anne's War, the second of these three wars, 
the English captured Acadia and changed its name to N(;va 
Scotia. It has ever since belonged to England. During 
King George's War, the last of these three wars, four thousand 
men from New England, with the assistance of some British 
»war ships, captured Louisburg. This fortress was on Cape 
Breton Island, and its capture was a great surprise to both 
France and England, because, next to Quebec, it was the 



g± The Thirteen Colonies 

strongest fortress in America. After the war England gave it 
l)ack to France. This caused great dissatisfaction among the 
EngHsh colonists, and especially among those of New England. 
As the , result of these three wars, all that the English in 
America secured was Nova Scotia and some military training. 
The French secured no new territory to offset the loss of 
Nova Scotia. These wars consisted largely of fruitless blood- 
shed and murder on the English frontiers. 

The French and Indian War 

66. Scope and General Results. — The fourth and last war 
between the French and the English in the New World began, 
not in Europe, as had the other three, but in North America. 
It was caused by the conditions already discussed. The first 
battle of this war was fought in 1754. This was two years 
before war was formally declared between France and Eng- 
land, and during this time several battles had been fought. In 
IToG the war between the French and the English in America 
became a part of one of the greatest wars of modern times. 
England and Frederick the Great of Prussia united against 
France, Spain, Austria and Russia. In Europe this war was 
known as the Seven Years' War, and- lasted from 1756 to 
17(53. In America it was known as the French and Indian 
War, and lasted from 1754 to 1763. In a most heroic struggle, 
Frederick the Great, aided by England, was a match for his 
combined enemies in Europe, and by the treaty signed by all 
the nations engaged in the war Prussia did not lose a foot of 
territory. The war was most disastrous to France. The treaty 
which closed it marked the temporary end of French colonial 
empire, but France has since secured some valuable colonial 
possessions. She lost all her possessions in North America, 
and nearly all of them in India. England secured the greater 
part of the territory that France lost, and gained more by the 
war than any other nation. 

67. Beginnings: (a) French and English i)i the Ohio 
Valley. — As has already been stated the condition which caused 
the beginning of the final conflict between the French and 



94 The Thirteen Colonies 

the Eno^Hsh over the control of North America was the passing 
of the Eni^Hsh over into the Ohio Valley. In 1750 the Ohio 
Company was or^j^anized in Virginia. The object of this com- 
pany was to settle the lands in the Ohio \^alley and to se- 
cure the rich fur trade west of the Appalachian Mountains. 
Governor Dinwiddle of \^irginia and two brothers of Geore^e 
W'ashini^ton were interested in this company. In IT^O it sur- 
veyed the lands as far as the present city of Louisville, Ken- 
tucky. The French at once saw the real meaniui;^ of all this, 
and decided to drive the Kni^^lish back over the mountains. 
They had already built a few forts in the Ohio and Mississippi 
valleys, thus connectins^, in a loose way, their possessions alonj^ 
the Mississippi with those in the St. Lawrence Valley. In 1753 
they beg'an to build a series of forts, extending from the south- 
ern shore of Lake Erie almost due south to where Pittsburg 
now stands, at the point where the Alleghany and Mononga- 
hela rivers unite to form the Ohio. After they had built three 
of these forts, Governor Dinwiddle of Virginia sent George 
Washington to request them to proceed no farther south, as 
the territory belonged to the English. Washington delivered 
this warning to the French commander, who was at the sec- 
ond fort, and although he treated Washington with the great- 
est courtesy, he very naturally paid no attention to the warning, 
(b) JVasJiiiigtoii's Defeat. — In the spring of 1754, after 
completing the third fort, the French moved south for the 
purpose of building the fourth, on the site of the present city of 
Pittsburg. When they arrived they found a small party of 
Englishmen busily engaged in constructing a fort. These the 
French drove away and built a fort they called Duqucsne, in 
honor of Duquesne, the governor of New France. Virginia at 
once sent three hundred men to drive the French away from 
this fort. The English troops were commanded by Colonel 
Fry, and Washington, with the rank of major, was second in 
command. On the march Fry became sick and Washington 
assumed the command. As the English approached the fort, 
they were met at a place called Great Meadows by a much 
larger force of French soldiers. Washington hurriedly built a 
fort, and called it Fort Necessity. The French attacked this 



The French in North America 95 

fort, and Washington, after resisting the attack for the larger 
part of a day, was compelled to surrender his little army. This 
was Washington's first and only surrender. By the terms of 
surrender the English were permitted to march out with the 
honors of war and to return to Virginia. This battle and a 
skirmish which preceded it were the beginning of the French 
and Indian War. 

The defeat of Washington of itself was but a small affair, 
but the results were very important. • It naturally caused the 
Indians in the Ohio Valley to join the French. This meant 
murder and massacres along the English frontier in Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland and Virginia. It also meant that the English 
would be restricted to the seaboard, unless they could defeat 
the French. 

68. Weakness of Colonial Organization: The royal gov- 
ernors, especially Dinwiddle of X'irginia and Shirley of Mas- 
sachusetts, realized that the situation was very serious, and 
wished to organize an army at once, and to invade French ter- 
ritory. They asked England for soldiers, and she sent over one 
thousand to Virginia, under General Braddock. They asked 
the colonies for soldiers and money, but the legislatures were 
slow in voting either, and seemed to care very little whether 
the French were attacked or not. If the French had invaded 
the colonies, the colonists would have risen as one man and 
driven them out ; but so long as the French remained on the 
other side of the mountains, the English settlers seemed little 
concerned. There were a few of the colonists, however, who 
understood the real importance of the situation. The colonies 
were asked to send delegates to a convention, for the purpose 
of adopting some plan that would result in all the colonies 
uniting against the French. The convention met at Albany, 
New York, and is known as the Albany Congress. Benjamin 
Franklin proposed a plan of union that would have created a 
strong central government, with power to provide for the 
common defense of the colonies. The congress adopted this 
plan, but all the colonies rejected it. Thus, at the beginning of 
an important war, there was no central power in the colonies 
that could raise money and troops. The legislature of each 



96 



The Thirteen Colonies 



colony could do as it pleased in the matter, while all of Xew 
France was united under the absolute control of the governor 
general. 

69. English Reverses: (a) Braddock's Defeat. — The 
colonies, however, increased Braddock's force to about twenty- 
two hundred men, and sent an expedition against the French 
in the Niagara River country, and another against the French 
forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point on Lake Champlain. 
With his army of about twenty-two hundred men Braddock 

began his march on Fort 
Duquesne. On July ^\ 
IT")"), after about a 
month's march over the 
mountains and through 
dense forests, Braddock. 
with about fifteen hundred 
soldiers, arrived within a 
few miles of the fort. The 
French and their Indian 
allies knew of the English 
advance, and came out 
from Fort Duquesne to 
surprise them in the great 
forest that covered the 
country. Without warn- 
ing the advance guard of 
the two armies met face to 
face, in the narrow path that led to the fort. One of the 
first few shots killed the brave French commander. The 
French and Indians hid behind trees on each side of the road, 
and the \'irginia soldiers did the same. The English regulars 
would have done this also, but General Braddock compelled 
them to keep fonned in battle line, as they would have done 
if fighting in Europe. The French and Indians partially 
surrounded the English, and, protected by the trees, killed or 
wounded all but four hundred and fifty-nine. Braddock was 
mortally wounded, and Washington, who was second in com- 
mand, conducted the retreat in a verv able manner, and led 




Montcalm 



The French in North America 



97 



the remnant of the nnny l^nck in \iroinia. The Knq-h^li defeat 
was duo to the fact that Ih-addock was dotonniiu'd to ti^ht as 
he had been accustomed to t'l^htiii^- in ]uu-o]>e. If he had per- 
mitted the Enghsh rci^ulars to j^ot behind the trees, as (hd the 
Indians and the French, the resuh miglit have been ditYerent. 

(b) Other Biii^lisli Dcfcafs. — 'Phe expedition as^ainst Ni- 
agara was a com(:)lete faihire. The one against the P'rench 
forts of Ticonderoga and Crt)wn i'oint was but a partial suc- 
cess. These faihn-es and iJraddock's (k'feat, whicli ])ernntted 
the destruction oi the settlements on the kaiglish frontier in 
Pennsylvania. New York, and X'irginia. aroused the colonies 
and the home government in England. In May, 175(), England 
declared war on Erance. 
and sent over to Amer- 
ica more soldiers and 
new generals. hVance 
also sent over more sol- 
diers under General 
Montcalm. Monte a 1 m 
was an admirable man 
and one of the ablest 
generals of France. 'Phe 
English generals were 
no match for him. In 
17r)() he captured Os- 
wego on Lake Ontario, 
and secured control of 
the lake. During the 
next year he captured 
Fort William Henry at 
the southern end of Eake George. After the English sur- 
rendered, the Indian allies of the French murdered and scalped 
more than two hundred of them. Montcalm did all he could to 
protect the English prisoners, hut he could not save all of them. 
It was the most cowardly and contempible act committed 
during the war. "To Montcalm it was an abiding grief." 

70, The War Under William Pitt: (a) His Vii^orous 
Policy. — 'Phe vear Wu marked the hisjh tide of French suc- 




Wiij.iAM Pitt 



98 



The Thirteen Colonies 



cess. In June of that year William Pitt became Prime Minister 
of Knglaiul. He had charge of all English military operations 
in all parts of the world. He was a man of great ability — the 
greatest war minister England has ever had. He had the con- 
fidence of the English people at home and in the colonies. He 
at once began to reorganize the military plans of England. He 
recalled all bnt one of the inefficient generals who had been 
sent to America, and appointed others. Amherst, an able gen- 
eral, was made commander in chief, and among his able assist- 
ants were \\'olfe and Howe, both of wdiom w^ere killed during 
the war. Pitt was determined to drive the French out of 
America, and for this purpose raised an army of fifty thousand, 
which was by far the largest army that had so far assembled in 
North America. Twenty-five thousand of these soldiers were 
furnished by the colonies, and the other twenty-five thousand 
were sent from England. This active and vigorous policy of 
Pitt's at once began to bear fruit. 

(b) Caf'tnrc of Louisbiifg and Ports froiitoiac ami Du- 
qncsnc. — With the exception of the disastrous defeat of the 
incompetent Abercrombie at Fort Ticonderoga, which was de- 
fended by iMontcalm, the English armies were successfnl from 
the beginning of IToS. General Amherst, with the assistance 
of Wolfe and Admiral Boscawen, undertook the capture of 
Louisburg', They hurled against that strong fortress sixteen 
thousand five hundred soldiers, and twenty-three English bat- 
tle-ships. On July 3(5, 1T58, after a siege of forty-eight days, 
and a heroic defense by the French, the fortress surrendered. 
The capture of Louisburg removed a danger from New Eng- 
land, and gave the English a base from which to carry on op- 
erations for the capture of Quebec. It also made it possible for 
the English to attack with more vigor the French forts on the 
New York and Pennsylvania frontiers. On August 27, Gen- 
eral Rradstreet. with about three thousand men from New 
England, crossed Lake Ontario and captured Fort Frontenac. 
The capture of this fort made it difficult for the French to get 
supplies and soldiers to Fort Duquesne. This was fortunate 
for the English, for General Forbes, with the assistance of 
Washington and Poquet, was leading an amiy against that 



The French in North America 



99 



fort. When tlie En.c:Hsh reached Fort Dnquesne in November, 
the French army had deserted and partly destroyed it. The 
English rebnilt the fort and called it Fort Pitt. From the 
traders" cabins around the fort the present city of Pittsburg' has 
grown. ' 

(c) The Capture of Quebec. — During the year 1759 the 
English captured the city of Quebec and Forts Niagara and 
Ticonderoga. During the next year they captured the city of 
Montreal. These victories completed the overthrow of French 




Quebec in 1759 

power on the North American continent. The most dramatic 
event of the war was the capture of Quebec. The young and 
able General Wolfe commanded the English forces. The French 
forces were commanded by the gallant and able General Alont- 
cahn. Both of these men were kind, considerate, and of ad- 
mirable character. Both loved their country, and both knew 
that the capture of Quebec by the English meant the end of 
the war and the destruction of French power in North America. 
The city of Quebec is situated on the point of land between 
the rivers St. Lawrence and St. Charles, where the two rivers 
meet, the river St. Lawrence at this point really being an ex- 
tension of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The cliff on which the 



lOO 



The Thirteen Colonies 



city stands is about two hundred feet high and has very steep 
faces. Back of the city where the strip of land becomes wider 
he what are called the Plains of Abraham. The city, which 
was thus so strong by nature of its location, was also well forti- 
fied and so carefully guarded by ^Montcalm that Wolfe spent 
all of July and August in a vain effort to form some plan of 
attack. It looked to hiiu as though he must give up the at- 
tempt, when one day he saw a dim path leading up the steep 
cliflf. This path was about two miles from the city and led 
from the St. Lawrence river up to the Plains of Abraham. On 
September V2, the Knglish war vessels, in order to deceive 
Montcalm, bombarded the city furiously and pretended to be 
preparing to land troops on the St. Charles side of the city. 

About midnight Wolfe 
and about five thousand 
soldiers began to climb 
up the little path on the 
St. Lawrence side. In 
the morning Montcalm 
was nmch surprised to 
find five thousand Eng- 
lish soldiers drawn up in 
battle line on the Plains 
of Abraham. He at once 
led his troops in an 
attack on the English. 
The result was the com- 
plete defeat of the 
French. 

(d) Death of Wolfe 
and Montcalm. — Mont- 
calm and ^^'olfe were 
both mortally wounded. 
\\'hen dying. Wolfe 
heard one of his men cry. "See how they run !"^" Who run?" 
exclaimed Wolfe. When told it was the French, he nnimiured. 
"Now. God be praised. I will die in peace." When Montcalm 
was told that he would soon die from the wounds which he 




W >•:_!■.. 



The French in North America loi 

had received, he said, "So much the better; I shall not live to 
see the surrender of Quebec." Thus died two of the ablest 
generals of the French and Indian War. The one vi^ould 
never again see England nor his sweetheart whom he was soon 
to have married ; the other would never again see France nor 
his wife and children whom he loved dearly. 

(e) Treaty of Peace; Results of the JVar. — Although the 
last battle of the French and Indian War was fought in the 
year 17()0. the treaty was not signed until the end of the Seven 
Years' War, which was in ITHo. Among other things, this 
treaty gave to England all the territory east of the Mississippi 
river except the island on which New Orleans stands. To 
Spain was given th.is island and all the territory west of the 
great river. France retained nothing in North America ex- 
cept two small islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The re- 
sults of the war made it plain that the language and institu- 
tions of England would be supreme in North America. The 
English colonies could now develop in peace so far as any 
foreign nation was concerned. The war brought about condi- 
tions which helped to bring on the Revolution, and the training 
which the colonists received in this contest with the French 
prepared them for the conflict with the mother country. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 

THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA 

Questions for Class Recitations 

(In connection with the questions on the French in North Amer- 
ica, each pupil should read the second number of Hart's "Source 
Readers in American History," pp. 71-150. See "Explanatory and 
Suggestive," page ix.) Compare the Spanish and English colonies 
in the New World with regard to purpose of settlement. Describe 
the Spanish settlements made in tlie territory which now comprises 
part of the United States. Why did Spain not make more settle- 
ments in this territory? How was tlVis related to the French and 
English colonies in North America? Give a careful description of 
the explorations and settlements made by Cartier and Champlain. 
Why is Champlain called the "Father of New France"? What part 



I02 The Thirteen Colonies 

of tlie continent was explored by Joliet and Marquette? Discuss 
La Salle's explorations. (Each pupil should draw a map showing 
the routes of these explorers and the territory claimed by France 
by virtue of these explorations.) Describe the manner in which 
the explorers took possession of the country for France. Explain 
carefully how the French and English colonies dififered as to pur- 
pose of settlement. Explain carefully how this affected the charac- 
ter of the settlements of the two nations. Compare the English 
and French colonies in resjjoct to location, extent, and size of pop- 
ulation. What caused the great dififcrence in population? 

Why did the French wish to be friendly with the Indians? How 
did they gain the friendship of the Indians? Explain carefully why 
the English were less dependent on the Indians than were the 
French. How did the French make enemies of the Iroquois? Ex- 
plain carefully how this afTccted the growth of the French colonies. 
How did the friendship of the Iroquois for the English affect the 
growth of the English colonies? How did the French occupy the 
territory which they claimed? Explain carefully why the English 
and the French colonists were sure to conic into conflict in North 
America. Why was it natural that the English should pass over 
the Alleghani9s into the Ohio Valley? Why did the French wish 
to prevent this? Explain carefully why the French were unable to 
check the westward advance of the English. Tell what you can 
about King William's War. About Queen Anne's War. About 
King George's War. 

Tell what j'ou can of the nature and results of the Seven -Years' 
W^'ir in Europe. How was the French and Indian War in America 
connected with the Seven Years' War in Europe? Why did the 
French build a series of farts from Lake Erie to the site of the 
present city of Pittsburg? Why did the English object to this? 
Tell all you can about Washington's expedition against Fort 
Duquesne. What was the effect of Washington's defeat on the 
Indians in the Ohio Valley? What was its effect on the English? 
Explain carefully why the English colonists were so slow in pre- 
paring for war. Give a careful discussion of Rraddock's march and 
defeat. (Each inii^il should draw a map that will show the position 
of all the French forts in the West, and the place where Braddock 
was defeated.) Describe the result of the English expeditions 
against Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 

What was the effect of all these defeats on the English? De- 
scribe the success of Montcalm in 1756 and 1757. (Each pupil 
should draw a map that will illustrate all the battles fought in 
Canada and on the northern frontier of the English colonies.) 
Tell what you can about William Pitt and his war policy. De- 
scribe the taking of Louisburg. How did the capture of Louisburg 



Questions and Topics 103 

aid the English? Describe fully the capture of Quebec. Compare 
the French general Montcalm with the English general Wolfe in 
character, ability, and courage. What was the effect of the war on 
the history of America? What was the direct effect on the English 
colonists? (Each pupil should draw a map that will show all the 
changes in territory that were caused in America by this war.) 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Compare the French and English settlements in regard to loca- 
tion, extent, purpose of settlement, character, and population. Dis- 
cuss the relations of the French with the Indians. Compare the 
attitude of the French toward the Indians with that of the English. 
Discuss the enmity of the Iroquois to the French and its effect on 
colonial history. Describe the conditions which made war be- 
tween the French and English inevitable. Discuss the conditions 
leading to English success in this struggle. Discuss in a general 
way King William's, Queen Anne's, and King George's wars Ex- 
plain the relation between the Seven Years' War in Europe and 
the French and Indian War in America. Discuss the scope of the 
French and Indian War. Describe the work of Washington in 
this war. Discuss the work of Pitt. Discuss the results of the 
war, including territorial changes and political effects. 



LOVE OF COUNTRY 

Breathes there the man, with soul sn dead, 
Who never to himself hath said. 

This is my own, my native land? 
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned, 
As home his footsteps ho hath turned. 

I'Vom wandering on a foreign strand? 
If such there breathe, go, mark him well; 
For him no minstrel raptures swell; 
High though his titles, proud his name, 
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; 
Despite those titles, power, and pelf, 
The wretch, concentered all in self, 
Living, shall forfeit fair renown, 
And, donblj' dj'ing, shall go down 
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung. 
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung. 



—Walter Scott 



THE THIRTEEN COLONIES 

INSTITUTIONAL LIFE IN THE COLONIES 



THE THIRTEEN COLONIES 

INSTITUTIONAL LIFE IN THE COLONIES 

Introductory 

I. The Five Institutions 

1. Their Nature and Scope 

2. Relation of tlie Individual to the Five Institutions 

3. Importance of Their Study 

II. Topograph3\ Climate and Soil 

1. Their General Effect on Institutional Life 

2. Their Condition in the New England and Southern 

Colonies 

3. Their Condition in the Middle Colonies 

4. Their Relation to Slavery and the Results 

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 

I. Commercial Industries 

1. The Southern Colonies 
(a) Products 

(i) Tobacco 

(2) Rice, Indigo, and Cotton 

(3) Other Products 
(&) Plantations 

(i) Relation to Growth of Cities and Manufactures 
(2) Relation to Growth of Slavery 

2. New England 

(a) Occupations 

(1) Farming: Relation to Topography, Climate, and 

Soil 

(2) Manufactures 

(3) The Fish Industry: Trade and Commerce 
(&) Relation of Physical Conditions to Slavery 

3. The Middle Colonies 
(o) Occupations 

(1) Agriculture: Relation to Topography, Climate. 

and Soil 

(2) Manufactures: Opposition of England 

(3) Trade and Commerce 

(b) Relation of Industrial Conditions to the Growth of 

Slavery 

104 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 105 

4. Conclusions as to Influence of Topography, Climate, and 
Soil 
II. Professional Life 

1. The Ministry 

(a) The Ministry in New England 

(&) The Ministry in the Middle Colonies 

(c) The Ministry in the South 

2. Medicine 

3. Law 



SOCIAL CONDITIONS 

I. The Southern Colonies 

1. Population: Classes of Society 
(a) The Negro Slave 

(&) Indented White Servants 

(c) The Middle and Upper Classes 

2. Life on the Plantations 

3. Fashion among the Upper Classes 

4. Amusements 

II. New England 

1. Classes of Society 

(a) Slaves and Indented Servants 
(&) The Middle and Upper Classes 

2. Social Distinctions: Effect on New England Life 

3. Dress and Amusements 

III. The Middle Colonies 

1. Classes of Society 
(a) Slaves 

(&) Indented Servants 

(c) The Middle and Upper Classes 

2. The Manors of the Hudson and the Mohawk 

3. Dress, Amusements, and Social Life 
(a) In the Country and Small Towns 
(&) In New York and Philadelphia 

GOVERNMENT 

I. Local Government 
I. Introductory 

(a) Divisions of Government 

(b) Harmony of Laws: Changes and Improvements 



1 o6 The Thirteen Colonies 

J. The County. Townsliip. aiul Tarish 

(O) The Cmnity at the IVcsont Time: its Powers ami 

Duties 
(l>) linporlauce of tlie County in the CoK^tiies: Growth 
of its Powers 
(i) The County in New Eny;h\nd: the Township 
(j) The County in South Carolina, the Parish and 
District 

(3) The County in \'iri;inia 

(4) The County in the Middle Colonies 
3. Colonial Intluence on Local Goveriunent 

(O) Result in nitVerent Sections 

0>) Crowtli ot" the Principle ni T.nvnship Covernnient 

11. State and Colonial Cioveruinent 

1. State Government 

(O) Relation to National and Local Government 
(/>) nepartments of (.lovernment 

(\) Lejiislative department 

(j) l-lxecutive Oepartment 

(,0 Judicial Department 
(c) In what Respects State, National, and Local Govern- 
ment Differ 

2. Colonial Government: Mode of Treatment 
(o) Departments 

(\) Legislative Department 

(j) Executive Dei^artment: Classes of Colonial 
Government 

(,0 Judicial DepartnuMit 
(ft) The National Authority 
(o) Relation to Present State Government 

RELIGION 

1. Reli.cious Liberty at the Present Time 

11. ReHi^ious Persecution in hauope 

111. Reli.uions Persecution in the Colonies" 

1\'. Causes of Religious Persecution 

\'. Growth of Religious Liberty in the United States 



EDUC.VTION 

1. Comparison of Colonial Schools with those of the Present 
Time 



Institutioniil Life in the Colonies 107 

IT. Condition oi Schools in I'^nj^land 

11. 'I'iu- SoutluTM Coloiiic^ 

1. Work 111' tlu- Mini.stors 

2. Effccl of Plantation Life: Opposition of Ivoj-al Governors 

3. Schools: College of ^\'illianl and Mary 

IV. New I'.n.^land 

1. inlliu'nce of the i'uritan C'lunch and its Ministers 

2. iMist Law lCstai)lishin,L; I'uhlic .Schools: Inlhu'nci- of 

Church on 1 .e.yislation 

3. Elementary l''ducalion in New h'.n.uland 

4. Colleges 

v. Tlie iNliddle C<donies 

1. New ^'o^k and New Jersey 

2. Pennsylvania and Delaware: Inlluence of h'ranklin on 

lulucalion 

3. Colleges 



INSTITUTION.M, IJKl<: IN TIIIC COLONIlCS 

Introductory 

71. The Five Institutions: (a) Tlicir Xalitri- a>ul Scope. 
— Five itistitulioiis (ir (.r^aiii/.alidii.^^ exist anion;.; tlie people of 
every nation, state, city, and eonnunnity. They are business, or 
industrial life; soeiety, or soeial life; the state, or _o()vernnient ; 
the ehnreh, or religion; and the sehool, or education. 'Phese 
five institutions, in one form nv another, may always he found, 
even amoni;' saxaj^es. .\11 that any eomnnmity, or its indi- 
viduals, ean think or do, nnist he thotiL^ht or done aloni;' one or 
more of these lines. The\ inelnde the entire life and work of 
every person and eommnnity. 

(b) Relation of lite huiividiial to tlie I'ire liistititlioiis. — 
Among; civilized people these institutions are plainly marked, 
and every person be.ars some relation to eaeh of them. The 
nature of his work in relation to one or more of them deter- 
mines to what extent he is useful or harmful to the comiuuiiity, 
state, and nation. The useful, intelligent citizen follows some 
business or occu])ation successfully; he contriliutes to the hap- 
piness and scicial life of the ])eople in whost' society he lives; 



io8 The Thirteen Colonies 

he takes an active interest in government or politics ; he takes 
an active interest in ethical or religions questions ; and he inter- 
ests himself in the educational atTairs of his comnumity. 

(c) hiif'ortaiicc of tJic Stitdy of Institutional Life. — \\'hat 
is true of an individual in this respect is true also of a nation. 
It is very important, therefore, in studying the history of a 
nation to study carefully its institutional life. A nation should 
be judged not so nuich by the battles which it has fought, or 
by the territory which it owns, as by the condition of its in- 
stitutions. So far we have been studying the colonies mainly 
as related to their political history, or the institution of govern- 
ment, which includes among other things the wars fought and 
the territory secured. While it is of importance to learn about 
the institution of government, it is of even more importance 
to learn about the other four institutions. We shall now study 
the conditions of these four institutions in the colonies, and re- 
view the institution of government. 

72. Topography, Climate and Soil: (a) General Etfeet 
on Institutional Life. — Tn the study of the growth and develop- 
ment of the nation the difference between the topography, cli- 
mate and soil of the several sections deserves the most careful 
consideration. This difference determined to a certain extent 
that the South should be. until after the American Civil War. 
an almost strictly agricultural country ; that much of the land 
should be divided into large plantations ; that almost the entire 
time and energy of the southern people should be devoted to 
raising tobacco, rice, indigo, and cotton ; and that the labor of 
the South should be performed by negro slaves. It also deter- 
mined to a certain extent that the people of the northern colo- 
nies should devote a large part of their time and energy to com- 
merce and manufacturing; that the agricultural land should be 
divided into a large number of small farms ; that many different 
kinds of agricultural products should be raised : that the labor 
of the North should be performed by freemen instead of by 
slaves ; and that the social and political conditions of the North 
should be quite different from those of the South. 

(b) Tlieir Condition in the Xeic England ami the Southern 
Colonies. — The topography, climate, and soil of the southern 



Institutional Life in the Col 



onies 



109 




Relief Map of Eastern United States 

section and of New lui^land are distinctly different. By far 
the larger part o.f the country formerly included in the south- 
ern colonies and in all the southern states that border on the 
Gnlf^of Mexico is level, in fact almost flat. This country is 



iio The Thirteen Colonies 

drained by broad rivers which flow into the sea or into the 
Gulf. The soil is naturally very rich ; the rainfall is abundant ; 
the climate in summer is very hot. and with the exception of 
Marvland and the northern part of \'irginia. mild and pleasant 
in winter. The surface of Xew Knoland is made up largely of 
hills and mountains, and is drained by short, rapid rivers. The 
soil naturallv is not very fertile, and the climate in winter is 
cold and severe. -I'oth the hnxul. fertile plains of the South, 
and the hills. nKumtains, and small valleys of New Euf^land, 
were covered with a great, dense forest. 

(c) TJicir Conditio)! in the Middle Colonics. — The condi- 
tions of the topography and climate of this section, which em- 
braced the colonies of Xew York, Xew Jersey. Pennsylvania, 
and Delaware, are about midway between those of the southern 
section on the one hand and of Xew England on the other. 
The soil, unlike that of Xew luigland and like that of the 
southern region, is rich. The rainfall is abundant, which is 
true also of both the other sections. The climate is not so cold 
as that of Xew Hnglauvl. and not so mild and pleasant as that 
of the southern territory. The surface of the land is not di- 
vided into as large a mimber oi small valleys, as is the case in 
New^ England ; neither does it consist of broad, extensive plains, 
as is the case in the southern section. 

(d) Their Rchition to Slai'i-ry and the Resnlts. — These 
differences between the topography, climate and soil of the 
Xorth and the South had a direct etTect on the growth of slav- 
erv in these two sections, llocause of the severe climate anil 
small farms of the Xorth. and the attention wdiich this causotl 
the people there to devote to commerce and manufacturing. 
sla\e labor couUl n(~>t be used with nuich profit in the northern 
section; and because of the warm climate and large plantations 
in the South, and the lack there of commerce and manufactur- 
ing causetl bv these large plantations, slavery could be used 
with great profit in the southern section. r>ecause slave labor 
could not be used with nuich profit in the Xorth. slavery soon 
ceased to exist there ; and because slave labor could be used 
with great profit in the South, slavery soon became firmly es- 
tablishetl in that section. From what has been stated above, 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 1 1 1 

and from the discussions which arc to follow, it will he seen 
that diflferences in topog^ra])hy, climate and soil caused slavery 
to exist in the South and not in the North ; that slavery caused 
the industrial, social, and jiolitical conditions of these two sec- 
tions to become more and more unlike; that the s^reat difference 
between the industrial, social, ami political conditions of the 
North and South caused the Civil \\' ar ; and that the Civil War, 
bv destroving' slaverv. has caused these con(liti(Mis in the two 
sections to become more and more alike, and has thus imified 
the nation. 

INDUSTRIAL CONDITION 

73. Introductory: The institution aff'ected most directly 
bv topography, climate, and soil is business, or industrial life. 
Farming-; engaging in some profession, as law. medicine, or the 
ministry; mining; manufacturing; the carrying on of trade or 
commerce; and all other things which men do to make a living, 
comprise the institution which is called business, or industrial 
life. In order to add clearness to the treatment, the professions 
named above will be treated under the subhead. Professional 
Life in the Colonies. The other factors of Industrial life in the 
colonies will be treated under the subhead. Commercial Indus- 
tries. Each of the three groups of colonies will be taken up 
separately, because industrial conditions in each group differed 
from those in the other two groups, and this difference had an 
important effect on some of the other institutions. 

Commercial Industries 

llic Soiiflicni Colonics 

74. Products in the Southern Colonies: (a) Tobacco. — 
Tobacco is, and has been from early colonial times, one of the 
chief southern products. It was the first of these leading 
products to be raised in the southern colonies. Tobacco is a 
native of the New World. W'hite men had never seen it until 
America was discovered. The first settlers in Mrginia saw 



112 The Thirteen Colonies 

the Indians smokini;- the (h'v leaves. The Ene^Hsh tried it and 
hked it so well that they took some to En^^land, where the 
hahit of smokinc;' soon became very popular. Never before nor 
since then did any product win such rapid favor as did tobacco 
in England and in the rest of Europe. The smokin,G: of tobacco 
became the fashion, and the demand for the leaves of this new 
plant constantlv and rapidly increased. 

As the tobacco plant was not raised in Europe, the supply 
had to be secured from the New World. The settlers of 
Jamestown saw at once that they could sell for a good price all 
that they could raise. Its regular cultivation was begun about 
1(512, and by 1014 it had become the main, in fact, almost the 
only product of the colony. All the colonists raised it. It was 
planted and grown even in the streets of Jamestown. James- 
town might have been abandoned had it not been for the pro- 
duction of tobacco. Thus it may be said that this new plant 
saved the first settlement in Virginia. Until about the time of 
the Revolution, tobacco was practically the only product raised 
in Virginia in quantities large enough to export. This was 
also true of Maryland until the close of the French and Indian 
War. The northern part of North Carolina raised and- ex- 
ported a considerable quantity of tobacco. In 1T70 Virginia 
was exporting about five million dollars' worth each year, and 
Maryland almost one half million dollars' worth. The whole 
life of these two colonies centered around its production. In 
order to keep the price fair and uniform, laws were made for 
the purpose of regulating its production and the quality that 
should be exported. This was necessary because tobacco was 
used as the money of these two colonies. A man's wealth was 
counted in pounds of tobacco. He sold his goods for it and 
paid for them with it. Laws, however, could not regulate the 
price of tobacco. Sometimes it was high, sometimes low. ac- 
cording to the size of the crop and the demand for it in Europe. 
Thus it worked a great hardship to many people. When 
prices were high, the creditor was injured; when prices were 
low, the debtor was injured. If a man paid a debt when the 
price of tobacco w^as high, it required much less tobacco to pay 
it than when the price was very low. 



Institutional L/ife in the Colonies 



113 



(b) Rice, Indigo, and Cotton. — Rice, indigo, and, later, cot- 
ton were the three principal products of North Carolina, South 
Carolina, and Georgia. These three products were as important 
in the three most southern colonies as was tobacco in Virginia 
and Maryland. Like tobacco, they caused the growth of large 
plantations and were the principal articles of export. 

In lG9-i rice was introduced into South Carolina from the 
island of Madagascar. It was raised extensively in North 
Carolina and later in Georgia, but South Carolina led in its 
production. The quality of rice raised in these three southern 




Chaklemun at the Time of the Revolutiun 

colonies was the best in the world. Many large plantations 
were devoted almost exclusively to its production, and large 
quantities were exported. For a long time the price of rice 
was high, and the planters became rich rapidly. Many of the 
large planters in South Carolina lived in Charleston, and em- 
ployed men who were called overseers, to look after the plan- 
tations and manage the slaves. The fact that most of those 
who owned the large plantations lived in Charleston caused it 
to become the center of commerce and social life in the far 



114 The Thirteen Colonies 

South. At the time of the rcvohition it was the lars^est. 
wealthiest, and most important city in all the southern colonies. 

After a while, ahout 17 10, so much rice was raised that the 
price fell, and its product itm hecame less profitable than in 
former years. This caused an increased production of indio;o, 
which had been introduced from the West Indies, and by 1750 
it had become quite an important southern product. 

Some cotton was raised in South Carolina and Geors^ia, but 
very little for export. It was not until after the Revolution, 
and until after the invention o( the cotton ,<;in, a machine for 
removing;- the seed from the fibre, that cotton became the one 
great product of the South. After the invention of this device, 
the immense production of cotton tended to displace all other 
products, and caused the large plantations, which had been 
created by the extensive production of rice and indigo, to in- 
crease rather than diminish in size. 

(c) Other rroditcfs. — Among other things produced in the 
southern colonies were wheat, rosin, turpentine, hogs, and cat- 
tle. Just before the Revolution. A^irginia and Maryland each 
produced considerable wheat for exportation in addition to 
supplying enough for home use. The three other southern colo- 
nies together prod-uced enough for home use, but little, if any, 
for export. North Carolina produced for export considerable 
quantities of turpentine and rosin. It had a much larger va- 
riety of farm and other products than any of the other southern 
colonies, and it contained a larger number of small farms and 
fewer large plantations than any of the others. 

75. Plantations in the South: (a) Effect on Growth of 
Cities and Manitfactnres. — The extensive production of tobacco 
in \'irginia and ]\Iaryland, and of indigo, rice, and cotton in the 
other southern colonies, is closely related on the one side to 
topography, climate, and soil, and on the other side to slavery 
and other industrial and social conditions. The climate and 
soil of the southern colonies were well suited to the extensive 
production of these staples, and the broad, flat plains encouraged 
the growth of large plantations, each under the control of one 
man. The large number of rivers running through these rich 
plains made it easy for most of the plantations to maintain their 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 



115 



own warehouses. The three or four hunchx-d vessels engaged 
in earrying the tobacco of Virginia and Ahirvhuid to the mar- 
kets of Europe and other countries usually called at the ware- 
houses on the different plantations along the rivers and bought 
the tobacco directly from the planters. This same plan was 
followed, to a large extent, with the indigo, rice, and cotton 
of the other southern colonies, except that a large amount of 
these products was floated down the smaller streams on barges 
to central points on the larger rivers. -Especially was this true 
in South Carolina, where Charleston was the main point of 




Tobacco Rolling 

The cask is filled with tolmcco, a pole is thrust through it, harness is 

attached to ends of the pole, and the cask is drawn to the ship 

distrilmtion. The vessels that came to the plantations for the 
tobacco, rice, indigo, and cotton brought the clothes, farming- 
machinery, tools, and all the other things which the planter 
needed but could not or did not produce on his own plantation. 
This habit of the planters of buying from and selling to the 
vessels that came from Europe or the northern colonies, was 
one of the main reasons why there were no large cities in the 
southern colonies. Each large plantation was a little world in 
itself, and the planter and his slaves devoted their time to raising 
tobacco, indigo, rice, or cotton. As the i)lanter bought almost 



1 1 6 The Thirteen Colonies 

everything he needed directly from the northern colonies or 
from Europe, there was no inducement for towns to grow, or 
for men to engage in making or manufacturing even many of 
the common necessities of life. 

(b) Relation of Plantafions to Growth of Slavery. — When 
the tobacco was planted, and when it was gathered and pre- 
pared for market, a large amount of labor was required, and 
the same was true even to a greater extent in the production of 
indigo, rice, and cotton. Slave labor was cheap and well suited 
to the work. When a Dutch vessel in 1(5 19 brought a few negro 
slaves to Jamestown, most of them were bought for work on 
the tobacco plantations. It was \ery difficult to secure white 
labor in early Virginia and Maryland, and still more difficult in 
the far southern colonies. The planter soon came to depend 
almost entirely on the negro slave for labor, and as the plan- 
tations increased in number and size, the demand for slave 
labor became more and more urgent, and the number of 
slaves increased rapidly. The records regarding population in 
the southern colonies are not very reliable, but it is safe to say 
there were at the time of the Revolution about as many slaves 
in these five colonies as white people, the number of each being 
between five hundred th(nisand and six hundred thousand. 

Nezv England 

76. Occupations in New England: (a) fanning. — The 
people of New Kngland. unlike those of the southern colonies, 
did not secure the larger part of their wealth from the ex- 
tensive jM'odnction of a few staples. The hills and mountains 
divided the country into small valleys, and this alone was a 
strong factor in preventing the growth of large plantations. 
But in addition to this, the soil, as a rule, was poor, and the cli- 
mate severe and disagreeable in the winter and spring, although 
pleasant in the summer and autumn, liecause of these condi- 
tions the farms naturally were small as compared with the 
large plantations of the S(MU1i. Farmers had to work very hard 
in order to raise a good crop of anything. \\'ith the excep- 
tion of Connecticut, it was difficult for anv New England colony 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 



117 



to raise more food than it required for its own use, but the 
variety of products was much greater than in the southern 
colonies. In Connecticut, especially in the Connecticut Valley, 
the soil was very g^ood. In addition to supplying the home de- 
mand, this colony exported hay, grain, and cattle. 

(b) Manufacturing. — These conditions made it almost im- 
possible for New I{ngland to become wealthy and prosperous 
from farming. The people of New England, therefore, de- 




JoHX WiNTHRor's Ahi.i., New London, Connecticut 

voted a large part of their time and energy to fishing, to com- 
merce, and to manufacturing. Although the policy of Eng- 
land hampered the growth of manufacturing, many things 
were made, and the foundation was laid for the great manu- 
facturing establishments that sprang up after the Revolution. 
Almost every man was of necessity a mechanic, and learned 
to work with poor tools with remarkable success. The result 
of this was noticed by foreign travelers, whom the New Eng- 



1 1 8 The Thirteen Colonies 

land villages reminded of Europe, and who noted the streets 
lined with shops where every form of trade was busily plied. 
The New England farmer, as a rule, made many of his tools 
and much of his furniture. There were many shops devoted 
entirely to the making of these things. The women spun 
flax and wool on the spinning wheels, wove the cloth on hand 
looms, and made it into clothing. The swift, running rivers 
furnished the power for thousands of sawmills and gristmills. 
The sawmills prepared lumber not only for home use, but also 
for exportation, and the gristmills ground some of the wheat 
and corn raised in the other colonies as well as that raised in 
New England. From all this it will be seen that while the 
New England colonies contained no large manufacturing estab- 
lishments, they made a large number of things in many small 
shops. After the Revolution, when the conditions were more 
favorable, these small shops gradually developed into large 
manufacturing establishments. 

(c) Tlic Fisheries, Trade cvui Couiuieree. — One great 
source of wealth in New England was the fisheries. Although 
the coast was rugged, wild, and stormy, the colonists caught an 
immense number of fish. The whale and the cod fisheries were 
especially profitable. By 1750 the value of the fish caught 
each year was more than one and one-half million dollars. 
Much of the catch was consumed at home, and much was 
shipped to Europe and the West Indies. Fish and fish oil were 
the principal articles of export, although small quantities of 
other products, such as lumber, hay, rum, grain, and cattle, 
were also exported. 

But for every dollars' worth of goods exported there were 
usually more than two dollars' worth imported. This condi- 
tion of trade would soon ruin any country, because a country 
cannot long buy twice as many dollars' worth of goods as it 
sells and still remain prosperous, unless it has some special con- 
ditions in its favor. The New England colonists met this ad- 
verse condition of exports and imports by devoting a great 
deal of their attention to commerce. New England built the 
best ships in the world. She built all her own vessels and many 
for other nations. Slie carried nearly all her own exports in 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 1 1 9 

her own ships ; she carried much of the exports and imports of 
the other colonies > and New England ships, manned by New 
England sailors, became an important factor in the commerce 
of the West Indies and of Europe. Just before the Revolution 
New England had more than a thousand vessels engaged in 
foreign commerce, and more than two thousand engaged in 
the fisheries and domestic commerce. In spite of the fact that 
her soil was poor, and that she imported two dollars' worth of 
goods for every dollar's worth that she exported, the wealth 
derived from her fisheries and from her extensive commerce, 
together with the industry and thrift of her people, made New 
England wealthy, and caused the growth of many prosperous 
towns and cities. Although by nature she was poor, her peo- 
ple made her rich. 

77. Relation of Physical Conditions in New England to 
Slavery. — It is interesting to consider what the results in New- 
England might have been had the physical conditions been the 
same as in the southern colonics. What would the result have 
been if, instead of the hilly country, poor soil, and cold winters, 
New England had had a warm, pleasant climate, and had con- 
sisted of broad, fertile plains suited to the extensive production 
of a few staples, such as tobacco, rice, and cotton ? The chances 
are that the people of New England would have devoted much 
less attention to the fisheries and to commerce, and much more 
attention to the extensive production of those staples that would 
bring them the most money. The chances are that the country 
would have been divided into large plantations, and that upon 
these plantations would have been a large slave population. 
At one time slavery existed in all the New England colonies, 
but slave labor could not be used with profit on the small 
farms, in the fisheries, or in commerce, and for this reason it 
was gradually abolished. There was very little moral sentiment 
in New England against slavery until long after the Revolu- 
tion. 

The Middle Colonies 

78. Occupations in the Middle Colonies: (a) Agricul- 
ture. — As has alreadv been staled, the soil of the middle colo- 



I 20 The Thirteen Colonies 

nies was rich, and the cHmate was neither so mild as that of the 
southern colonies, nor so cold and severe as that of New Eng- 
land. The surface of the country east of the Appalachian 
Mountains, where nearly all the people in the middle colonies 
lived, was not divided into so many nor such small valleys as 
was the case in New Enoland, nor did it consist of broad plains, 
as in the southern colonies. These conditions naturally would 
give rise to many prosperous farms, and to the raising of a 
large variety of farm products. This was true. Nearly all 
kinds of farm products were raised, but no one product was 
raised on a vast scale, as was true in the case of tobacco, rice, 
and indigo in the southern colonics. The fact that the soil and 
climate were suited to many products tended to prevent the 
growth of large plantations and the extensive production of only 
a few staples. Wheat was the chief product, and much was pro- 
duced for exportation. Other farm produce also was raised 
and sold in large quantities. All the middle colonies raised more 
cattle than were required for home use. Taken all in all, the 
condition of agriculture was better in the middle colonies than 
in the others. Especially was this true in Pennsylvania, where 
farming" was carried on in a better and more systematic way 
than in any other colony. 

(b) Grozvth of Manufacturing: Opposition of England. — 
The middle colonies, like New England, were beginning to 
manufacture various articles. There were no large manu- 
facturing establishments, such as exist to-day in the Ignited 
States ; but the people of these colonies, like those of New 
England, were making the beginnings and laying the founda- 
tions for the great manufacturing industries of the present time. 
The beginnings were small, but they indicated clearly the 
desire and the ability of the people to manufacture the articles 
which they needed instead of importing all of them from Eng- 
land or from some other country. In New York, cloth, hats and 
glass were maiuifactured, but not to any great e.xtent. Saw- 
mills and gristmills were numerous, and did a large business. 
In Pennsylvania many articles were manufactured. A large 
part of the clothing w'orn was made in the colony, and some 
was exported. Iron ore was mined, made into pig iron, and 



Institutional Life in the Colonies i 2 1 

exported, the amount during- some of the years between 1750 
and 17 (u) reaching- nearly four thousand tons. Ships were 
built in Philadelphia, and the gristmills of Pennsylvania made 
into f^our much of the wheat raised in Maryland and Mrginia. 

England did all she could to prevent the growth of manu- 
facturing- in the colonies. Men in England who were engaged 
in manufacturing- induced the English Parliament to pass laws 
interfering- with, and even prohibiting, the manufacture of 
certain articles in the colonies. These laws, as a rule, were 
not obeyed by the colonists. They indicate, however, a selfish 
and short-sighted policy on the part of those who had control 
of Parliament, and they served to irritate the colonists. It 
should be remembered, however, that all nations, at that time, 
believed colonies should be of value to the commerce and in- 
dustry of the mother country, even if it did result in some 
injury to the colonies. There was some good reason for this. 
The people of the mother country were compelled to help 
protect the colonies from the attack of other nations, and they 
had a right to expect some compensation in return. Just what 
a colony should give in return for this protection was a question 
never solved satisfactorily to all concerned. 

(c) Trade and Commerce. — Boston, New York, and 
Philadelphia were the three most important commercial cities 
in the colonies. At the time of the Revolution the commerce 
of New York amounted to about four and one-half million dol- 
lars annually ; about five hundred vessels and between six and 
seven thousand seamen were employed. The commerce of 
Philadelphia, at the same time, was worth more than five million 
dollars yearly ; and more than five hundred vessels and seven 
thousand seamen were engaged in this industrv. The ships 
of New York and Philadelphia carried goods to ncarlv all the 
civilized nations of the world, bringing back goods in return. 
The goods imported from other countries were usually manu- 
factured articles, such as clothing, crockery, tools, furniture, 
etc. The goods exported were fish, furs, lumber, some 
minerals, and products of the farm. Pennsylvania, and more 
especially New York, carried on a very profitable fur trade with 
the Indians. These furs were an important article of export. 



122 The Thirteen Colonies 

79. Relation of Industrial Conditions in the Middle Colo- 
nies to the Growth of Slavery .^Tlie iiKliistrial conditions in 
the middle colonies made slave labor of more value than in 
New Enti^land, but of much less value than in the South. There 
was a large nuiuber of prosperous farms in the middle colo- 
nies, but they were small as compared with the lari^e plantations 
of the South, and were devoted to raising- products of great 
variety. The condition of agriculture was due to topography, 
climate, and soil. As has been already stated, slave labor could 
not be used with nuich profit on small farms, nor in manufactur- 
ing and coiumcrce. For these reasons the middle colonies had 
a much siualler number of slaves than the southern colonies, 
and because farming ^vas more important, and climate as a 
rule milder than in New England, the middle colonies, especi- 
ally the more southern of them, had a larger slave population 
than did Massachusetts and her sister colonies. In none of 
the middle colonies, however, was the slave population more 
than ten per cent of the total population, while in New Eng- 
land it was less than three per cent of the total population. 

The Quakers were opposed to slavery as a matter of prin- 
ciple, but there was no other important class of people in 
any of the colonies that opposed slavery on moral grounds. 
There were, of course, a few men and women in all the colonies 
who opposed slavery because they thought it morally wrong, 
but their influence on this question was of very little im- 
portance. The growth of slavery was not determined by 
sentiment, at least not to any great extent. After the Revolu- 
tion, and even before, slowly and gradually there grew up in 
the middle colonies and in New England a moral sentiment 
against it; but a discussion of this phase of the subject nuist 
be postponed for the present. 

80. Conclusions as to Influence of Topography, Climate 
and Soil. — In closing this brief study of industrial conditions 
in the colonies, it is of importance again to note carefuUv 
that topography, climate, and soil controlled the growth of 
slavery by determining the industrial conditions. Slaverv 
became an important part of the southern plantation life. 
After the invention of the cotton gin had increased greatlv the 



Institutional Life in the Colonies i 2 3 

production of cotton, slavery became still more valuable, and 
bence still more firmly rooted in soutbern society. Natural 
conditions in tbe Nortb, by making" slavery of but little value 
to tbe people, made free labor tbe basis of industrial life. Tbese 
differences in tbe industrial conditions of tbe Nortb and South 
caused tbe two sections to develop along- diliferent lines, and 
to grow fartber and fartber apart. It tbus becomes clear that 
the difference in topography, climate, and soil of tbe two sec- 
tions, by determining their industrial conditions, controlled 
the growth of slavery, and bence was the fundamental cause 
of tbe American Civil \\ ar. 

PROFESSIONAL LIFE 

81. The Ministry: (a) In Xciv England. — At the pres- 
ent time in tbe United States medicine and law are two of the 
most respected and honored of tbe professions. Many of the 
ablest and best men are either lawyers or doctors. Some of the 
best institutions of learning are devoted entirely to training men 
for these professions. Lawyers and doctors, however, have not 
always held this high position and been thus respected. In 
early colonial times, except in Pennsylvania, the professions 
of law and medicine amounted to but very little. Before 1750 
there were very few men of much ability who devoted their 
entire time to either of tbese professions. But it was different 
with tbe profession of tbe ministry. The ministers, as a rule, 
were w-ell educated and had more influence than the members 
of any other profession or class. The ministers of early New 
England were among the ablest in all tbe colonies. This was 
due to the fact that tbe Puritans came to the New World in 
congregations, and because of their religious beliefs. The 
ministers were tbe leaders in tbese ideas, and were looked up to 
by the members of their congregations with a respect that 
amounted almost to reverence. In addition to this leadership 
in religion, they were nearly all well educaied, most of them 
being college graduates. 

Moreover, in tbe Massachusetts l^ay. Plymouth, and New 
Haven colonies, tbe church and state were closclv united, and 



I 24 



The Thirteen Colonies 



the i(|eas of the ministers, therefore, usually controlled the 
acts of the lej^islature. There are but few instances in history 
where the ministers of any church had sp much real influence 
and leadership over the people as they did in the early history 
of these three colonies. After Massachusetts became a royal 
province, a change gradually took place. Fully half of the 




Jonathan Edwards 
One of the Ablest of Colonial Tln'olosiaiis and Wiiters 

people in Massachusetts by this time were not Puritrms, and 
when the new charter jiermitted men to vote and hold office, 
no matter what their religious ideas were, the ministers lost 
much of their influence over the legislature, the governors, and 
the courts. They retained their leadership, however, in educa- 
tion and literature, and thus still exerted irreat influence. 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 125 

(b) In the Middle Colonies. — In the middle colonies the 
ministers of the different churches ranked hic^h. As a rule 
they were able, well educated, honest, and enerc^etic men, who 
impressed their characters in many ways on the life of the 
people. The Quaker ministers, the ministers of the Dutch 
Reformed church, of the Presbyterian church, of the Congre- 
gational church and of the other churches were leaders of the 
communities in which they lived, and were most persistent in 
their endeavors to establish schools and to improve the general 
condition of the people. Their live, active work in almost 
every community was of great value, and was by far the most 
important factor in improving the' moral and intellectual con- 
ditions of the mass of the people. 

(c) In the South. — In most of the southern colonies the 
Episcopal church was the state church, and in Virginia and, 
for some time, in Maryland it was supported by public taxes. 
A man was compelled to pay taxes to support this church; 
whether he was a member of it or not. In all the other 
colonies — except in some of the New England colonies for a 
short time — the minister was supported by the members of 
his church, and no public money was used for this purpose. 
There were worthy and able ministers in the South who 
belonged to the Episcopal church, but it so happened that some 
of those sent over from England were those who had been 
unsuccessful at home. Under the conditions prevailing, the 
ministers of the Established church in the southern colonies 
exerted less influence than the ministers of the other colonies. 
This was true except in South Carolina, where the Episcopal 
ministers were usually well educated and did good work. 

After the Revolution, when the public funds were no longer 

used to support the Established church, it declined rapidly 

for a while in Virginia and Maryland. It soon, however, 

began to build up on a solid basis. The members of the church 

refused to support those ministers who were not able and 

cfificient, and as their salaries were no longer paid from the 

public funds, they were compelled to go into some other line 

'of work. A better class of men took their places, and the 

church secured more influence than ever before, and became a 
11 



126 The Thirteen Colonies 

strong factor in uplifting society. The ministers of the other 
churches in the southern colonies, like those in the middle 
colonies, were as a rule able men, usually well educated. They 
did what they could to establish schools, but were not 
successful. They could have accomplished much more in 
\'irginia had they not been persecuted and driven from the 
colony. 

82. Status of the Medical Profession. — As has been stated 
before, medicine as a profession amounted to very little in the 
colonies,, especially before 1750. This profession developed 
earliest and most rapidly in Pennsylvania, and in this respect 
Massachusetts ranked second. From the very first in Pennsyl- 
vania there were some physicians who had secured their 
education in the imiversities of England and were well 
qualified to practice medicine. These did all they could to 
advance the profession. In 1734 the first medical work in the 
colonies was produced. This was written by Dr. Cadwalader 
from London, who later gave a course of lectures on anatomy 
and physiology, and in 17.")0 became one of the first physicians 
of the hospital in Philadelphia. In 17fiO Dr. Sheppen and Dr. 
Morgan established in Philadelphia a medical college, which 
five years later became a part of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania. There were fewer quacks in Pennsylvania than in any 
of the other colonies. In New England, and especially in the 
southern colonies, druggists and barbers often practiced 
medicine and surgery along with their regular occupations. 
Owing to the lack of special training of physicians, the people 
had but little respect for the medical profession. There were 
but few good doctors in the southern colonies. 

Many of the ministers of early New England had studied 
medicine before leaving England. They frequently acted as 
doctors, and were better than most of those engaged in the 
profession. After these early ministers died, the profession 
for a time fell into the hands of quacks who knew little about 
medicine. P)Ut the ability of the doctors soon improved, and 
the profession became more and more respected. Just before 
the Revolution there were many able physicians in New 
England, and they were highly respected. New England, 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 1 27 

however, was beliiiid Pennsylvania in the matter of hospitals 
and medical schools. 

83. Growth of the Legal Profession.— The profession of 
law was of more importance in New Hncrland and IVnnsyl- 
vania than in any of the other colonies, just as was the case 
with the profession of medicine. Virginia, however, just 
before the Revolution, had as many good lawvers as' New 
England, and more than Pennsylvania or any 'of the other 
colonies. For a long time in New England, and for a longer 
time in Virginia, there were so few able lawyers that the 
profession could hardlv be 
said to exist at all. In Penn- 
sylvania, on the other hand, 
there was a number of fairly 
good lawyers from the very 
first, and the profession was 
held in high esteem, which 
was not the case in any of the 
other colonies. From about 
1750 the profession of law in 
New England was represented 
by a large number ,of very 
excellent lawyers, and a little 
later the same was true in 
Virginia. 

Among the New England 
lawyers at this time were John 
Adams, Samuel O u i n c y , 
Samuel Gridley. and James Patrick Henry 

Otis ; among those in Virginia were Thomas Jefferson, Patrick- 
Henry, and George Mason. These, and other lawyers and 
statesmen of great ability, were just in time to prepare the 
colonies for and to guide them through the Revolution, and to 
help put into effect the Constitution of the United States. Many 
of them made world-wide reputations. To their wisdom and 
common sense the people of the United States owe a great 
debt of gratitude. 




128 The Thirteen Colonies 



SOCIAL CONOmONS 

84. Introductory: (a) Xalitii', ami Rclaiion to tlic 
Other histitntions. — The anmsonKMits of people, the social 
relations anuMit;- the various classes df society, treatment of 
neii^hhors. customs of dress, daily maimer of speakin.y; and 
acting- toward others, and all other thiui^s which interest or 
anuise men in a social way, ciMistitute the social life of a 
people. Many of these siUMal factors are closely related to 
industrial conditions. It will he seen from this discussion on the 
institution of social life, that the social conditions in the southern 
coUniies, in Xew luii^land, and in the middle colonies differed, 
and that this difference was due largely to th.e difference in the 
industrial conditions in these groups of colonies. The 
iliscussion already j^iven on intlustrial conditions will, therefore, 
hear a close relation to the iliscussion on social conditions which 
follows. In fact, the more closely the history of any nation is 
stutlied. the plainer it hecomes that its five institutions are 
closely related. The social conditions of a nation are closely 
related to each of its other four institutiiMis — business, govern- 
ment, religion, and eilucation. Therefore, when studying any 
one of the five institutions Of a nation, it is of importance to 
understand the relation of that institution to each of the other 
four. 

(b) Coiuiitions AfTcctiii}:: Social Life. — It is not easy for 
the bovs :\\u\ girls and the men an^l women of to-day to realize 
how the people of the coU^iies li\ed, ilressed. ami anmsed 
themselves. This is due largely to the difTerence between the 
comlitions which existed in the colonies and those which exist 
at the jiresent time. It therefore becomes necessary to note 
carefully some of the ciMulitions which made social life in the 
colonies differ so nuich from the social life of to-ilay. Among 
the more impcM-tant ct^nditions that atTecteil social life in the 
colonies were the newness oi the country, the poor means of 
transportation and communication, anil, in the southern 
colonies, the large plantaticMis and moile of farming. Phe 
jieople in the ctMonies lived in the edge of a mightv forest that 
covered the entire countrv. At times this forest must have 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 129 

sccincd to the loiuly settlors as vast as the soa and as silent as 
tlcath. They did not know how far this s;rcat fcM-cst extended, 
or what wild animals or races of men it containeil. This life 
in the edi^e of a great, silent, and unexplored forest, and on the 
edge of the sea. aiTected the customs autl habits of the people. 
The effect of this solitude on the lives of the southern people 
was emphasized by the aliuost total lack oi cities and tmvns. 
and by the nature of plantation life. Nearly all the people li\ed 
on plantations which were usually far apart. This caused the 
peo]-)le to visit each other less fre(|uently than they would have 
done had the\' lived in cities or closer tosjcther on small farms. 




Colonial Mansion 

The ])oor means of transportation and comnuuu'cation in 
colonial times tended to make the life of the settlers still more 
lonely. Modes of travel and comnuinication have a profound 
eliect on social life. This is well illustrated in the changes 
which have taken i)lace since coloniat times. ,\t the present 
tiiue, a person while eating- breakfast can read in his morning' 
paper about all the important things that have taken place in 
the civilizetl part of the world up to midnight of the day before. 
Often a new style of dress, or a new invention of some kind, 
will be used in many parts of the world within a few months 
after it is first made. It was (|uite different in the colonies. 



130 The Thirteen Colonies 

There were no railroads or teley;raphs or telephones in the 
world at that time. The fastest way to travel was by the use of 
the horse on land and the saihng vessel on water. All mail and 
news had to be carried by the same means, and it should be 
remembered that there were fev; roads then, and that most of 
these w^ere usually in a very bad condition. If Boston had 
burned, it would have been five or six days before the news 
would have reached New York, and many more days before 
the people in Virginia would have heard of it. This slow 
means of travel and communication made life in the colonics, 
especially in the southern colonies, much more isolated and 
lonely than it would have been had railroads and telegraphs 
existed. It also affected the customs and habits of the people 
by preventing them from becoming acquainted readily with 
the customs and habits of others. All these conditions had a 
great deal to do with making social life in the colonies so 
different from that of to-day. 

The Southern Colonies 

85. Population and Classes of Society. — At the time of the 
Revolution the number of people living in the five southern 
colonies about equaled the total population of all the other 
colonies. Virginia, with its population of about six hundred 
and seventy thousand, contained at least a third more than any 
one of the other thirteen colonies, and about as many as all the 
other southern colonies combined. 

Taken as a whole, the people of the southern colonies con- 
sisted of four classes, namely, the negro slaves, the white 
servants and poor whites, the middle class, and the upper class. 
It is not exactly correct, however, to apply this statement to all 
the southern colonies, because in some of them there were but 
three classes. Neither was there a distinct line separating the 
middle class from the upper class. The former class, which 
consisted of those who owned the smaller farms and plantations, 
shaded gradually into the upper class, which consisted of those 
who owned the larger plantations. In South Carolina there 
were but three classes — the two lower and the upper class — 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 



131 



there being but very few small farmers 
In North Carolina and Georgia also 
classes, — the two lower classes and th 
being very few large plantations in the 
in Georgia, just before the Revolution 
plantations began to increase rapidly, 
classes of society in the mountain an 
extended from Maryland south through 



except on the frontier. 

there were but three 
e middle class, — there 
two colonies ; although 
, the number of large 

There were but three 
d plateau region that 

the southern colonies. 




JVilmingtoQ V 

Cape Fear 

BEGIOX OF 
LARGE PLANTATIONS 
Uiarleston AND SLAVE POPULATION 
(Just before the Revolution 

75° e.i cti.NY 



There were very few slaves in this country, and no upper class. 
Most of the population consisted of those who owned small 
farms. 

Up to the time of the Revolution, therefore,' nearly all the 
large plantations of the South were found in Maryland, 
\"irginia, and v^oulh Carolina, and upon these large plantations 
was found the larger part of the slave population. These large 
plantations did not extend back more than one hundred and 
fifty miles from the coast, and most of them were within one 
hundred miles. 



I 3 2 The Thirteen Colonies 

86. The Slave: (a) Daiii^er from Negro Insurrection. — 
Far below all other classes was the ne.c^ro slave. He was under 
the absolute control of his master, and could be boug^ht and sold 
as property. Only a few of the slaves could read or write. 
They were purposely kept in dense ignorance in order that the 
danger of insurrection might be lessened. White people in the 
southern colonies, and in some of the northern colonies also, 
lived in constant fear of a negro uprising. It was but natural 
that the negroes should be expected to unite secretly, and at a 
given signal begin the destruction of the whites. In Virginia 
the negroes outnumbered the whites, and in South Carolina 
there were at least two negroes to every white man. Many of 
the negroes had been brought direct from Africa, where they 
had been captured by the slave traders. They were savage in 
nature and instinct. The wonder is that with so many negroes 
of this character among the black population there were not 
some serious uprisings among slaves in some parts of the 
South, resulting in the wholesale slaughter of the whites. 
Several negro plots were discovered in Virginia just in time 
to prevent outbreaks. In South Carolina, in 1740, an insur- 
rection did break out. It was soon put down, but while it lasted 
the negroes killed men, women, and children. The constant 
dread of such uprisings is seen plainly in many of the laws 
passed in the southern colonies. 

(b) Lazifs Relating to Slaves. — The laws relating to the 
negro slave were often severe, and especially was this true of 
many of those in South Carolina and Georgia. The main object 
of the severe laws was to regulate the conduct of the negro so 
as to prevent an u])rising. They were not allowed to leave the 
plantation to which they belonged, without a permit. If a slave 
ran away, he might be killed by any one on sight, or, if captured, 
he could be punished severely at public expense. A white man 
could not be imprisoned for killing a negro, but he might be 
fined. Negroes were not permitted to carry any firearms, nor 
could a negro testify against a white man, although he could 
testify against a negro. In South Carolina white men were 
required to go to church" armed, so as to be ready for a negro 
uprising. Most of these laws, and others calling for severe 



Institutional Life in the Colonies i 3 3 

punishments for certain offenses, were the direct outgrowth of 
the well-grounded fear of the whites of slave insurrections. 

(c) Treatment of Slaves on Small Plantations. — The 
severe laws relating to slavery would seem to indicate that the 
negroes were badly treated. As a rule, this was not the case. 
The purpose of these laws was to prevent a negro outbreak. 
In actual practice the negroes were not often treated cruelly. 
In Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, and on all the 
small farms and plantations in all the. colonies, both North and 
South, the negroes were usually treated kindly. They had 
plenty to eat, were comfortably clothed, and were not recfuired 
to work too hard. The master usually took a personal interest 
in the welfare of his slaves. Many of the negro families had 
little garden plots on which to raise produce for their own 
tables. The negroes were encouraged by their masters to 
become Christians, and on the large plantations in Virginia and 
Maryland they often came together on Sundays for religious 
instruction. In the evenings and on Sundays they often met 
socially, and sang darky melodies, and played and danced. No 
doubt it is true that a majority of the negroes in the South 
lived a better and perhaps a happier life than did their half- 
savage relatives in Africa. Of course all the negroes were not 
so well treated. There were some inhuman masters who used 
the whip, and who sold husband away from wife, and parent 
from child. It would have been a most remarkable thing if 
there were not some masters of this kind. To-day there are 
many of the same kind of people living in all parts of the 
world. The man who beats and abuses his wife or child, or 
treats a horse or any other animal cruelly, would treat a slave 
in the same way. 

(d) Treatment by Overseers. — In addition to those slaves 
who were ill treated by the few cruel masters, there were many 
on the large plantations in South Carolina and Georgia who 
had a very hard time. Most of the large planters in South 
Carolina lived in Charleston, and left the control of their plan- 
tations and the negroes to overseers. These overseers were 
often cruel, and did not take the interest in the negroes that 
the master would have taken had he lived on his plantation. 



^u 



The Thirteen Colonies 



The overseer was anxious to produce as much rice or indis^o 
as possible for his employer, and in order to do this worked 
the slaves too hard, and otherwise abused them. Work on the 
low, swampy fields, where most of the rice and indigo was 
raised, was very unhealthful. Negroes working in these rice 
and indigo fields did not live to become very old. This state- 
ment regarding the treatment of negroes in Georgia and South 




Slave Qi'arters on a Carolina Rue Plantation 

Carolina applies, however, only to the large rice and indigo 
plantations, which usually were in the hands of overseers. The 
negroes employed in these colonies as house servants, and on 
the smaller plantations, were well treateil usually, like those in 
other colonies. At the time of the Revolution the X'irginia 
legislature came very nearly passing a law which would 
gradually have made the slaves free, but after the Revolution 
this sentiment died out rapidly. 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 135 

(e) Some lyfl'ccts of SUwcry. — Nci^ro slavery seriously 
affected coiulitioiis in tlie southern colonies. Aniony; other 
thinqs it caused the southern people to look on manual labor 
as dei^radiui;-. and fit only for slaves. This attitude toward labor 
brought about important results. It caused those immigrants 
from Euroj^e who expected to work for wages for a while, and 
afterward to buy small farms, or engage in soiue other business 
for themselves, to avoid the South and to settle in the North. 
Thus thousands of excellent citizens were kept out of the 
South who wouUl otherwise have settled there. As slave labor 
was well suited only to farming and housework, the lack of 
skilled white labor ])revented the development of manufactiu-ing 
and of the great natural resources of the South. i\ll this tended 
to make the South settle down still more firmly to plantation 
life and to the production of a few great staples. Southern life 
was being molded more and more closely around the institution 
of slavery. And there were many things that caused the 
southern people to accept slavery as a matter of course ; but 
none, perhaps, had more influence in this respect than the fact 
that the masters' children, from infancy, were nursed and cared 
for by the negro house servants. The negroes often became as 
fond of the children of their masters as they were of their own. 
All these things tended to cause the negro and his master to 
look upon slavery as the natural condition of society. 

87. Indented White Servants. — Indented white servants, 
like the negro slaves, were found in all the thirteen colonies. 
An indented white servant was a person sold to some one for 
a certain fiumber of years. During the term of the indenture, 
or contract, he belonged to his master, and could not leave him 
without his consent ; but after he had served the time specified 
in the indenture, he became free. These indented servants and 
the poor whites comprised the second class of society in the 
colonies, which ranked far above that represented by the negro 
slave. 

(a) Xumhcr and Character of Indented Ser-i'ants. — Fiske 
estimates that during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 
about fifty thousand of these indented servants were sent from 
the British Isles to America, but this estimate probably is a 



136 



The Thirteen Colonies 



little large. In character and ability they ranged all the way 
from the English, Scotch, and Irish prisoners of war, who had 
been captured while fighting for a principle, to the common 
thief and felon. Many boys and ^irls were stolen from the 
streets of London and sent over to the colonies as indented 
servants. Many poor, but honest, hard-working men and 
women became indented servants in order to pay their passage 
to America. A majority of the indented servants, however, 
belonged to the most worthless and degraded class found in 
the large cities of England. When they became free, they 
formed the most undesirable class in the colonies, and comprised 
to a large extent the "poor whites" and the criminal class. 
When those of better character became free, they accumulated 
pro])erty and were industrious, respectable citizens. Some 
became large landowners, and a few were elected to the 
legislatures. 

(b) Latins Rclatiiii^ to Indented White Servants. — Lodge, 
in his admirable discussion of the indented servant, says : "As 
early as the \eak' in^-o laws were framed to compel obedience 
to masters, and lor the next three years there was much severe 
legislation to regulate the servants. They were not allowed to 
marry without leave of their masters ; if they ran away, ad- 
ditional service was their punishment ; and for their second of- 
fense, branding on the cheek, while those who harbored them 
were subjected to heavy penalties. If they came without inden- 
tures, they were to serve four years, and years of service were 
added for an assault on their master, for engaging in trade, or 
refusing to work, as well as for running away. These provi- 
sions of the law enabled grasping masters greatly to protract 
the period of servitude, and rendered the condition of the 
servants miserable in the extreme. The only protection 
afforded them was the right of public burial, and if their death 
was under suspicious circumstances, the neighbors were to view 
the body. They were coarsely clothed, and fed upon meal and 
water sweetened with molasses, and were frequently punished 
with great barbarity. They were, as a class, of very poor 
character, for the most part transported convicts and the scum 
of the London streets." 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 137 

88. The Middle and Upper Classes. — The middle class in 
the southern colonies, as already stated, was composed of the 
traders, merchants, and small landholders. The upper class 
was composed of the large landholders. The traders and 
merchants were held in contempt by the men who owned the 
land. Especially was this true where such business was 
considered below the dignity of a gentleman. There was no 




A Garden of Colonial Days 



material difference between the large and the small landowners. 
Both came from the best old English stock. They intermarried, 
and the small farmer often increased his holdings until he 
became one of the large landholders. The owners of large 
plantations were nuich like the country gentlemen in England, 
except that their isolation and the ownership of slaves made 
them more independent and aristocratic. They lacked some of 



138 



The Thirteen Colonies 



the outward polish of their cousins in England, perhaps, but 
thev were true gentlemen, independent, and would permit no 
interference from any source. They ruled the colony in wdiich 
thev lived, and were given cordial support by all the other 
classes. They were brave and emphatic in their defense of 
English liberty. When they thought that the mother country 
was trying to deprive them of their liberties, they cast their 
lot almost to a man on the side of the colonies, and were loyal 
and active in support of the Revolution. During this period 
Virginia alone gave to the nation Washington, Jefferson, 
Madison, Marshall, Henry, and many other able men. These 
men were all leaders in the struggle that gave birth to the 
nation. Nothing could be a better or stronger proof of the 
ability of the upper class in Virginia than the fact that in one 
generation it produced three Presidents of the United States, 
the commander in chief of the American army in the Revolu- 
tion, and the greatest English jurist that ever lived. Well may 
Virginia and her neighbors be especially proud of the record 
which their sons made during this period. 

89. Life on the Plantations. — The conditions on the large 
plantations tended to develop men of strong character and 
ability. Men with small capacity for doing things could not 
have managed successfully the affairs of a large plantation. 
There were more than five hundred persons on some of them, 
and their management required considerable ability. General 
John Mason, in describing his father's plantation, gives a good 
idea of the duties of a large planter. George Mason, who 
owned this plantation, had about five hundred slaves. He was 
a leading \^irginian, and a member of the convention that 
framed the present Constitution of the United States. The 
son, in his description, says: "It was very much the practice 
of gentlemen of landed and slave estates in the interior of 
Virginia so to organize them as to have considerable resources 
within themselves ; to employ and pay but few tradesmen, and 
to buy little or none of the coarse stuffs and materials used bv 
them, and this practice became stronger and more general 
during the long period of the Revolutionary W^ar which in a 
great measure cut off the means of supply from elsewhere. 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 



139 



Thus my father had among his slaves carpenters, coopers, 
sawyers, blacksmiths, tanners, curriers, shoemakers, spinners, 
weavers, and knitters, and even a distiller. His woods furnished 
timber and plank for the carpenters and coopers, and charcoal 
for the blacksmith ; his cattle killed for his own consumption 
and for sale supplied skins for the tanners, curriers, and shoe^ 
makers ; and his sheep gave wool, and his fields produced cotton 
and flax for the weavers and spinners, and his orchards fruits 
for the distiller. His carpenters and surveyors built and kept 
in repair all the dwelling houses, barns, stables, plows, harrows, 
gates, etc., on the plantation, and the outhouses at the house. 




The Kitchen of a Plantation IMansion 

His coopers made the hogsheads the tobacco was prized in, and 
the tight casks to hold the cider and other liquors. The tanners 
and curriers, with the proper vats, etc., tanned and dressed skins 
as well for upper and lower leather to the full amount of the 
consumption of the estate, and the shoemakers made them 
into shoes for the negroes. A professional shoemaker was hired 
for three or four months in the year to come and make up the 
shoes for the white part of the family. The blacksmiths did all 
the iron work required by the establishment, as making and 
repairing ])lows, harrows, chains, bolts, etc. The spinners, 
weavers, and knitters made all the coarse cloths and stockings 



lAo The Thirteen Colonies 

used by the negroes, and some of finer texture worn by the 
white family, nearly all worn by the children of it. The 
distiller made every fall a good deal of apple, peach, and 
persimmon brandy. The art of distilling from grain was not 
then among us, and but few public distilleries. All these 
operations were carried on at the home house, and their results 
distributed as occasion required to the different plantations, 
^loreover, all the beeves and hogs for consumption or sale were 
driven up and slaughtered there at the proper seasons, and 
whatever was to be preserved was salted and packed away for 
after distribution. 

"]\Iy father kept no steward or clerk about him. He kept 
his own books and superintended, with the assistance of a trusty 
slave or two, and occasionally of some of his sons, all the 
operations at or about the home house above described, except 
that during the Revolutionary War and when it was necessary 
to do a great deal in that way to clothe all his slaves, he had in 
his service a white man, a weaver of the finer stuffs, to weave 
himself and superintend the black weavers, and a white woman 
to superintend the negro spinning women." 

90. Fashion among the Upper Classes. — In dress the upper 
classes followed the fashions of London. Fiske, in a discus- 
sion of this subject, states: "London fashions were strictly 
followed. In the time of Bacon's Rebellion your host would 
have appeared, perhaps, in a coat and breeches of olive plush or 
dark red broadcloth, with embroidered waistcoat, shirt and 
shoe buckles, lace ruffles about neck and wrists, and his head 
encumbered with a flowing wig ; while the lady of the house 
might have worn a crimson bodice trimmed with point lace, a 
black tabby (a rich oriental silk) petticoat and silk hose, with 
shoes of fine leather gallooned ; her lace headdress would be 
secured with a gold bodkin, and she would be apt to wear ear- 
rings, a pearl necklace, and finger-rings with rubies or 
diamonds, and to carry a fan."' 

91. Amusements: (a) Outdoor Sf'orts. — The plantations 
being so large and far apart, there was less social life in the 
South than in some of the northern colonies. This, of course, 
was not true of Charleston. In no other citv in the colonies 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 141 



was there so much gay social hfe as in this city. The winter 
season was crowded with balls and parties. But while there 
was of necessity much less of this kind of social life on the 
farms and large plantations, no people anywhere ever possessed 
more genuine hospitality and love for social life and outdoor 
sports than did the landholders of the South. They were 
especially fond of outdoor sports. Horse racing and hunting- 
were their two principal annisements. By 1750 Virginia and 
Maryland contained some of the finest horses in the world. 
The races took place twice a year, — in the spring and in the 




Wealthy Southerners — Their Costumes and Manners 

fall. The southern people wore also very fond of hunting, 

especially of fox-h.unting. They were never so happy as when 

following the hounds after the fox. This was Washington's 

chief pleasure, and he continued to follow the fox as long as he 

was able to ride horseback. 

(b) field-day Entertainments. — Other outdoor anuiscments 

were the field sports, which w^ere much like similar sports in 

England. They were usually under the direction of the 

planters. The Virginia Gazette of October, 1737, contains this 

notice, which gives a good idea of one of these field-day 

entertainments : "\\'e have advice from Hanover Countv, that 
12 



142 The Thirteen Colonies 

on St. Andrew's Dav there are to be Horse Races and several 
other Diversions, and the entertainment of the Gentlemen and 
Ladies, at the Old Field, near Captain John Rickerton's, in that 
county (if permitted by the Hon. \Vm. I'yrd, Esquire. 
Proprietor of said land), the substance of which is as follows. 
viz.: 'It is proposed that 30 Horses or ]\[ares do run round a 
three miles' course for a prize of five pounds. 

" 'That a Hat of the value of 20s. be cudo^elled for. and that 
after the first challeni^e made the Drums are to beat every 
Quarter of an hour for three challenges round the Ring, and 
none to play with their Left Hand. 

" 'That a violin be played for by 30 Fiddlers ; no person to 
have the liberty of playing unless he bring a fiddle with him. 
After the prize is won they are all to play together, and- each a 
ditTerent tune, and to be treated by the company. 

" 'That 13 Boys of 12 years of age do run 113 yards for a 
Hat of the cost of 13 shillings. 

" 'That a Flag be flying on said day -'>0 feet high. 

" 'That a handsome entertainment be provided for the 
subscribers and their wives ; and such of them as are not so 
happy as to have wives may treat any other lady. 

" 'That Drums. Trumpets, Hautboys, &:c., be provided to 
play at said entertainment. 

" 'That after dinner, the Royal Health, His Honor the 
Governor's &c., are to be drunk. 

" 'That a Quire of ballads be sung for by a number of 
Songsters, all of them to have liquor sufficient to clear their 
Wind Pipes. 

*' 'That a pair of Silver Buckles be wrestled for by a number 
of brisk young men. 

" 'That a pair of handsome Shoes be danced for. 

" 'That a pair of handsome silk Stockings of one Pistole 
value be given to the handsomest young countr>^ maid that 
appears in the Field. With many other Whimsical and Conu'cal 
Diversions too numerous to mention. 

" 'And as this mirth is desigjied to be purely imiocent and 
void of offense, all persons resorting there are desired to behave 
themselves with decencv and sobrietv. the subscribers being 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 143 

resolved to discountenance all immorality with the utmost 
rigor.' " 

New England 

92. Classes of Society: (a) The Slave and the Indented 
Servant. — At the time of the Revolution about seven hundred 
thousand people were living in New England, which was about 
equal to the number living in Virginia. As in the South, there 
were four classes of society, — the slave, the indented servant, 
the middle class, and the upper class. The number of slaves 
and indented servants was very small as compared with the 
number of those in the South. The total slave population of 
New England did not exceed twenty thousand, and probably 
was not more than fifteen thousand. The slaves were 
employed almost exclusively as house servants, their labor not 
being very valuable on the small farms, in manufacturing, or 
in the other industries. The laws regarding slaves and indented 
'servants were much milder than those in the South. The 
treatment of the slaves, as a rule, was very kind, which was> 
due largely to the fact that their employment as house servants 
kept them in close personal relation with their masters. The 
indented servants also were treated kindly, and after they 
became free they usually succeeded in going into business for 
themselves. 

(b) The .Middle and Upper Classes. — While there was no 
distinct line dividing the middle from the upper class, there 
was a great difference between the lower of the middle class 
and the higher of the upper class. Thus there was as distinct 
and as strong an aristocracy in New England as in the southern 
colonies, but it rested on a somewhat different basis. Aristoc- 
racy in the South rested largely on birth and ability, but it also 
rested largely on large landholdings ; that of New England 
rested on ability, education, birth, and wealth, though not to 
any great extent on wealth in land. The upper or aristocratic 
class was composed not of large landholders, but of those 
whose families for generations had been noted for their wealth, 
education, or services in the government ; of those who were 
well educated and learned ; of those who had performed valuable 



144 



The Thirteen Colonies 



public service ; and of those who had been very successful as 
merchants or in commerce. The middle class was composed 
of the mass of the population, which consisted of the farmers, 
merchants, and those engai^cd in manufacturing^ and in the 
other lines of industry. There were fewer foreig;ners in New 
England than m the other colonies, nearly all the members of 
both the upper and middle classes being of pure Knglish stock, 
and like the southern landholders they represented the highest 
English citizenship. The masses of the people were much 




A Salem St hoolholse with Whipping-post in the near Street 
From a drawing: made about 1T70 

better educated than those in the other colonies. As will be 
seen later when the subject of "Education in the Colonies" is 
reachetl, this wa^ due in part to the Puritan religion and to the 
fact that a large inimber of people lived in to\vns and cities. 

93. Social Distinctions; Effect on New England Life. — 
The social distinctions referred to in the last paragraph had an 
important effect in many ways on New England life. Nearly 
all the offices were filled by men of the upper class. If through 
a mistake or oversight the son of a carpenter or bricklayer or 
any one engaged in a similar occupation should be elected to 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 145 

office, he could be removed simply because his father did not 
hold a higher social position in the community. Lodge cites a 
case in which some people as late as 1759 asked to have a peace 
officer removed because his father was a bricklayer, and the only 
point argued was whether the charge was true, it being accepted 
as a matter of course that he would be removed if he really 
were the son of a. bricklayer. These social distinctions were 
also carefully observed in everyday -life. In church the people 
were seated according to their social position. The best seats 
and most prominent positions were given to public officials and 
to other members of the upper class. The other seats were 
assigned according to the social rank of the various members. 
People were compelled to occupy the seats assigned to them, 
and any one who refused to d(i so was punished. These same 
distinctions were made in the colleges. A student on entering 
college was assigned a position according to the social standing 
of his father. A list containing the names of the students, with 
the position assigned to each, was hung up in the college hall, 
and all were obliged to comply with it. This custom was not 
abolished in Harvard and Yale until about the time of the 
Revolution. It is rather surprising that in a new country, 
where labor was considered honorable, so many of the everyday 
affairs of life should have been affected to such an extent, and 
for so long a time. !)}• social position. 

94. Dress and Amusements: (a) As Affected by Puri- 
tanism. — The nature of the Puritan religion had a great deal to 
do with the dress and amusements of the New England people. 
The ministers taught simplicity in dress, and they were opposed 
to dances and parties. The laws of ^lassachusctts prohibited 
theaters, and they were not introduced with success until after 
the Revolution. The religion of the Puritans made New 
Kngland life earnest, simple, and solemn. It taught that 
anmsements and undue hilarity and pleasure were the works of 
Satan. The Puritans carried out their ideas in their daily life, 
and they compelled others to do the same. P)efore the Massa- 
chusetts charter was annulled in KIHl. all men were required 
to attend church and to refrain from certain amusements. The 
wealthy class wore clothes made of fine material, often of silks 



146 The Thirteen Colonies 

and broadcloth, but the styles were simple and plain. The 
outdoor amusements consisted of hunting^, fishing, sleighing, 
and of various athletic sports. 

(b) Changes in Social Life Due to British Inthience. — After 
New England was placed under royal governors, and the early 
Puritanism had declined somewhat in strictness, New England 
life gradually became more bright and cheerful. The following 
by Lodge, based largely on the best sources, is. perhaps, the 
best description of this change ever written : "Entertainment 
of a quieter and more everyday kind was found by ladies and 
gentlemen in walking in the mall every fine afternoon, and then 
going to each other's houses to pass the evening, unless they 
went to lectures, which was possible on six nights out of seven. 
These were narrow limits, for not only were plays and music 
houses discountenanced, but dancing-parties and balls were by 
no lueans encouraged. 'Of late,' sa}s one writer, in the vear 
1740, 'they have set up an assembly, to which some of the ladies 
resort. But they are looked upon to be none the nicest in regard 
to reputation, and it is thought it will soon be suppressed, for 
it is much taken notice of and exploded by the religious and 
sober part of the people.' Yet they did not seem dispirited or 
moping for lack of amusement, and the same writer savs 
elsewhere: 'The ladies here visit, drink tea, and indulge in 
every little piece of gentility to the height of the mode, and neg- 
lect tile affairs of their family w itii as good grace as the finest 
ladies in London.' The old system, in fact; was giving wav 
before the presence of an energetic and pleasure-loving social 
element, and balls aiul parties soon became an unquestioned 
part of social life. 

"After the Iroops were (piartered in P>oston. an attempt was 
even made to infringe upon the Sabbath. 'We have had an 
innovation here never known before,' writes a worthy citizen 
in the year ITT:?. 'A drum or rout given by the admiral last 
v^aturday evening, which did not break up till two or three 
o'clock on Sunday morning, their chief amusement being 
playing cards.' This innovation was a step too far, and 
disappeared with the English soldiers; but. nevertheless, at the 
time of the Revolution, the old abhorrence of amusements was 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 147 

nearly gone, and social life in Boston was by no means somber 
and depressing; so thaj: those who found time in the midst of 
an active life for relaxation had no lack of opportunities." 
This description applies to Boston, which led in the revolt 
against the solemn simplicity of Puritanism. In the smaller 
towns, and especially in the country, the Puritan ideals of dress 
and amusements were held much longer, and in some parts of 
New England have a strong influence on social life at the 
present time. 

The Middle Colonies 

95. Classes of Society. — At the beginning of the Revolution 
the total population of the middle colonies was about six 
hundred and seventy thousand, which was about equal to the 
population of New England or of Virginia. Of this number 
New York contained about one hundred and seventy thousand. 
New Jersey about one hundred thousand, Pennsylvania about 
three hundred and sixty thousand, and Delaware about forty 
thousand. With the exception of the large Dutch landholders 
along the Hudson and Mohawk rivers in New York, the people 
of the midle colonies were divided into but three well-defined 
classes, — the slaves, the indented servants, and the class which 
corresponds to the middle class in Virginia and in New Eng- 
land, consisting of farmers, merchants, traders, and those 
engaged in other lines of industry. 

(a) The Slaves. — There were about sixty-five thousand 
slaves in these colonies, forty thousand of whom were in 
Pennsylvania and Delaware, about fifteen thousand in New 
York, and about ten thousand in New Jersey. Nearly all the 
slaves were employed as house servants, just as in New 
England. As a rule they were treated kindly, this being due 
largely to the nature of their work, which brought them into 
close contact with their masters. Although the number of 
slaves was small, there was, at times, some fear of a slave 
uprising in the large cities. All such attempts met with 
severe punishment. Altogether some fifteen negroes were 
burned to death at the stake in New York, and several were 
put to death in the same way in New Jersey. In some of these 



148 The Thirteen Colonies 

cases the negroes had no intention of kiUing the whites or 
burning the cities, but the whites thought they were planning 
to, and so inflicted this terrible punishment. 

(b) Indented Scrrants. — The indented servants were not 
treated so well as in New England. This may have been due, 
at least to some extent, to the fact that the number of indented 
servants was larger in the middle colonies than in New 
England. With the exception of Mrginia, Pennsylvania 
contained more indented servants than any other colony. Alany 
of them had voluntarily entered into the contracts of indenture 
in order to pay their fares from Europe. After they became 
free, many of them made fairly good citizens ; but the 
remainder comprised a large part of the pauper and criminal 
classes. 

(c) Tlie Middle ivid Uf'l^er Classes. — There were fewer 
English in the middle colonies in proportion to the population 
than in the other colonies. For about fifty years New York had 
been a Dutch province, and naturally there were a large 
number of Dutch there. The Germans. Scotch, Irish, and 
French Huguenots comprised a large part of the population in 
Pennsylvania and Delaware, and in the latter colony there were 
a good many Swedes. East New Jersey was almost purely 
English, being settled largely by people from New England. 
West New Jersey contained many Germans. The middle class 
consisted of the great mass of the people, and was vigorous, 
earnest and progressive. The only distinct upper class or 
aristocracy in the middle colonies was made up of the large 
Dutch landholders along the Hudson and Mohawk rivers. At 
the present time many of the leading men and women of New 
York trace with pride their descent from these large land- 
holders. 

96. The Manors of the Hudson and the Mohawk. — The first 
owners of these great estates, called manors, received their 
vast grants of land when the Dutch first settled in New York. 
These grants were given to them as an inducement to settle in 
the province. The owner of one of these estates had even 
more authority and power than the large landholders of the 
South. He rented most of his land to farmers, who paid him 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 



149 



so much rent each year. Each of the larger estates was 
entitled to one representative in the legislature of the colony. 
The owner could lK)ld court and inflict punishment for \he 
violation of laws. In several cases the death penalty was 
inflicted. In fact, the owners of these large estates or manors 
on the Hudson and the Mohawk had some of the rights and 
powers possessed by the lords and barons of Europe. It was 
the only case where the old feudal system was, even in part, 
reproduced in the colonies. Among the most noted families 
were the \'an Rensselaers, the Cortlandts, the Livingstons, the 
Schuylers, the Philipses, and the Cuylers. 

97. Dress, Amusements and Social Life: 
(a) /// flic Coiiiiliy and Small Tozois. — • 
The habits, dress and anuisements of the 
people in the middle colonies varied some- 
what in the different colonies. As a rule, 
the clothes of the country people were home- 
made from homespun cloth. In New Jersey 
the early Puritan ideas of quiet and solemn 
simplicity prevailed. The life of the small 
Dutch farmers of New York also was 
simple, earnest, and industrious. Their 
clothing was home-made, and the cloth of 
which it was made was home spun and 
wt>ven. They did not readily adopt the 
fashions which were brought from Europe, 
and which were followed in the larger 
towns. " Their amusements were few and 
simple, consisting of corn huskings and spinning bees, and of 
simple outdoor sports such as skating, hunting and fishing. 
The lords of the manors were opposed to theaters and to the 
amusements introduced by the English governors and other 
English officials. In Delaware and Pennsylvania, outside of 
Philadelphia, the dress and amusements of the people were 
simple, although there were frequent rough quarrels and fights 
when the country people gathered in the towns on the occasion 
of fairs or other attractions. There was more social life than 
among the farmers of New England. "The rare events of 




Spinning Wheel 



I50 



The Thirteen Colonies 



country life were seized upon in the recurring^ seasons and 
enjoyed to the full. Seed-time and harvest, husking: and cider- 
pressings, house-raisings and vendues, shooting-matches, sleigh- 
ingf, and Christmas sports were always the occasions of social 
gatherings. There was a good deal of drinking, and still more 
dancing, and in every hamlet the fiddler was an important 
personage." Until about the time of the Revolution the floors 
in farmers' houses were covered with sand, and the same was 
true of nearly all the Dutch houses in New York. 

(b) Social Life in Xcw York and Philadelphia. — At the 
time of the Revolution, Philadelphia was the largest city in 




Foot Sto\-e 

North America, and Xew York was third in size. Boston being 
second. In the matter of dress the wealthier class in Phila- 
delphia and Xew York followed closely the fashions of London. 
Both men and women wore clothes made of silk and velvet, 
and wore a great deal of rich, bright-colored material. The 
men wore large, powdered wigs, and carried swords. A 
young man of fashion wore rich clothing of various bright 
colors. "A lady, struck with the appearance of some gay fellow 
at a ball, addressed him in the following lines : — 



Institutional Life in the Colonies i 5 i 

" 'Mine a tall youth shall at a ball be seen. 

Whose legs are like the spring, all clothed in green; 
A yellow ribbon ties his long cravat, 
And a large knot of yellow cocks his hat.' 

The women dressed in the height of fashion, especially in Phila- 
delphia. They devoted hours to dressing for balls and parties. 
Flowered stuffs of every variety — brocades, satins, velvets, and 
silks — were much in vogue, and hours were spent in the con- 
struction of tall headdresses and mounds of hair. They wore 
masks in cold weather, and carried fans of ivory with pictured 
sides. Even the Quakers gave way ; and while the stricter 
members wore plain but rich material, a portion of the sect, 
known as Wet Quakers, yieUleil to the fascinations of powder, 
silver buckles, and bright colors." This description applies 
more especially to TMiiladelphia ; but the same styles of dress 
were followetl to a large extent in New York. The principal 
social anuisements were balls, parties, and theaters. In addi- 
tion to these amusements young men spent much of their time 
at their clubs. With the exception of Charleston, gay social 
life was enjoyed to a fuller extent in New York and Phila- 
delphia than in any of the other cities in the colonies. 

GOVERNMENT 

98. Introductory: (a) Diz-isioiis of Covcrnnicnt. — Every 
pupil who reads or studies this book in school lives, very likely, 
with his parents, and is therefore one member of a family, 
lie is also a member of the school that he attends. He is a 
citizen or member of the county in which he lives, and whether 
he lives in a town, a city, or in the country he is a member of 
one of the parts or subdivisions of the comity. He is also a 
member of the state in which he lives, and as the states make 
up the nation, he is a member of the nation, or. as is usually 
said, a citizen of the United States. Every family, school, 
subdivision of the country, county, state, and the nation also, 
have certain rules or laws which are called government. Each 
pupil, therefore lives under several different forms of govern- 
ment. He lives under the government of his parents or 
guardian ; under the government of his teacher and the school 



152 



The Thirteen Colonies 



trustees or board of education ; under the j^^ovcrnment of the 
city or other division of the county in which he Hves ; under 
the government of the county in whicli he Hves ; under the 
government of the state in which he lives; and under the 
government of the United States. Every one Hves under these 
different forms of government and must obey the rules of each. 
Men and women, of course, are not under the rules of the 
family and school in the same way that a pupil is, but they 
must obey the general laws relating to the family and school. 




Old State House, Piiiladeu'iiia 



(b) Harmony of Laws; CJiangcs and Improvements. — 
With so many laws it w^ould seem that the laws of the family, 
school, county, state, and nation would conflict or interfere 
with one another. They do not. however, and this is most re- 
markable. All these laws work in harmony. This is not the 
result of chance or accident. ( )ur ancestors for thousands of 
years were working at the different divisions of government, 
and making laws for each. A long time ago, wdien our ances- 
tors were savages, the laws were rude and simple. Ever since 
then the laws have gradually been changed, increased in num- 
ber and made better, and at the present time they are being 



Institutional Life in the Colonies i 5 3 

changed and made better each year. The laws have been 
changed and are being changed in order that boys and girls 
and men and women may live happier and more useful lives. 

There have been many changes in the different forms of 
government even since the colonies were first settled, and it 
will be interesting and valuable to learn something about these 
changes. It will not be possible in this small book to study 
all the units or divisions of government, but some of them will 
be taken up and the more important changes noted briefly. 

Local Government 

County, TozciisJiip, and Parish 

98*72. The County at the Present Time; Its Powers and 
Duties, — The governments of the state and of the United States 
are known as the state and national governments, and those 
of the county and all smaller divisions are known as local 
governments. To-day, in nearly all the states west, and in 
many of those east, of the Appalachian Mountains, the county 
is the most powerful unit or division of local government. 
Its powers and duties are next to those of the state, and are 
carried out by a board of men elected by the people. In a large 
majority of these states the members of the county boards are 
called comnl4ssioners ; in a small group of states they are called 
supervisors. The supervisors are elected by the people of the 
townships into which the county is divided, and in some cases 
the cities of a county may elect one or more supervisors. The 
commissioners are usually elected by the people of the entire 
county, without any reference to the township or cities, but 
each commissioner often represents a certain part or division 
of the county, and in addition to his general duties looks after 
the special interests of his district. In some cases, as in Cali- 
fornia, the commissioners (called supervisors in California) 
are elected by the people of their districts, and not by the 
people of the entire county. In those states where supervisors 
are elected the board usually consists of more members than 
in those states where commissioners are elected. The powers 
of the board under either system are usually about the same. 



154 The Thirteen Colonies 

In nearly all those counties west of the Appalachian Mountains 
the county boards, in addition to many other powers and duties, 
must levy taxes and take general charge of the money affairs 
of the county, look after the general welfare of the schools, 
construct bridges and look after the roads, and see that the 
poor receive proper care and attention. In addition to the boards 
of commissioners or supervisors, there are a number of other 
county officers, as sheriff, treasurer, assessor, tax collector, 
superintendent of schools, auditor, recorder, and judge. In 
some states there are fewer county officers than those named, 
in other states there are more. From what has been stated 
above, it will be seen that in most of the states at the present 
time the county is a very important unit of government, and 
that it has more power in local affairs than any other local 
unit or division of government. It would be valuable at this 
point for the pupil to make a careful study of the county in 
which he lives. Before going farther in this book, therefore, 
the teacher and pupils are urged to investigate the duties and 
powers of all the officials of their home county^ and also the 
duties and powers of their city, township, and school officials. 
99. The County in Colonial Times: (a) Its Poivcrs and 
Duties. — The discussion of the county in the last paragraph 
does not, in one sense, belong to government in the colonies ; but 
it is necessary to understand the great powers 9nd duties of 
the county in local government to-day in order to understand 
its importance in the colonies. The county did not always have 
the powers that it now has. It has had to fight long and hard 
for them. So far as the United vStates is concerned, the 
struggle began in the colonies, and has not yet ended. Each 
of the thirteen colonies was divided into counties. In most of 
New England to-day the subdivisions of the county, called 
townships, are more powerful in local government than the 
county, and in South Carolina up to 1868 the subdivisions of 
the county, called parishes and districts, were of much more 
importance in local affairs than the county. As the middle 
section of the colonies is approached from New England on 
the north and east and from South Carolina on the south, it 
is seen that the county became of more and more importance 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 



155 



as a unit of local government, and when Pennsylvania is 
reached, it was and remains by far the strongest and most 
powerful unit, in local affairs. 

(b) The County and Toivnship in New England. — In New 
England each county consists of townships. Townships were 
formed before the early counties were organized. This was 
due to the fact that the Puritans came over in congregations 
and established towns. A town in New England included not 
only the town proper, but the adjacent country also. In New 
England, therefore, "town" and "township" meant the same 




Faneuil Hall 



,56 



The Thirteen Colonies 



in so far as it relates to a unit of local g-overnment. These 
towns had by far the most power in local affairs. Meetings, 
called town meetings, were held. These meetings were usually 
held in the largest towns in the township, and all those who 
were entitled to vote were supposed to be present. The town 
meeting was a training school in public affairs. At one of these 
meetings the people, in addition to many other powers, could 
levy taxes and direct for what the money thus raised should be 
expended ; could elect delegates to the legislature of the colony ; 
could elect the officers of the township and direct them as to 
their duties ; and could provide for schools. The township, in 
fact, had control of nearly all the more important local affairs. 
But the county possessed some important powers. In each 
county there was a county court composed of men elected by the 
people and appointed by the governor. Among its other 
powers, this court could interpret the laws in certain cases, lay 
out public highways, review the laws passed by the townships, 
and see that the township officers performed their duties. 

In Massachusetts the powers of the county have increased 
constantl\- up to this time. To-day the county board is com- 
posed of three members elected by the people. This board has 
lost the judicial power (the right to act as a court and interpret 
laws) which the county court had when Massachusetts was 
a colony ; but it has secured many more civil powers than the 
old county court had. The county in Massachusetts to-day 
has a number of county officers, and is of nuich more import- 
ance in local affairs than it was during colonial times ; but it 
is still of less importance than the township. In the rest of 
New England the county has still fewer powers. In the 
struggle between the county and the township in New England, 
the latter has been the victor, and is at the present time the 
most important unit of local government. 

(c) TJic County in South Carolina; the District and 
Parish. — ^^South Carolina was the only one of the southern 
colonies in which the ccnuity was not the most important unit 
of local government. Each county was divided, and these 
subdivisions were called parishes, except in the western part 
of the colony, where »they were called districts. The parish 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 157 

and the district were the most important nnit of local govern- 
ment in South Carolina. They had much the same power 
as the township in New -England, and like the townships were 
the local unit for the election of men to the legislature of the 
colony. The county was of less importance in local affairs 
than in New England. At the present time, however, it has 
far more power in local affairs than any other local unit, but 
it was a long time before it secured this power. In 1865 the 
parish was abolished and the district system was extended to 
all the counties. Three years later the district system was 
abolished and the county was given control of all the more 
important local affairs. The county board consists of three 
commissioners elected by the people of the county. Thus in 
South Carolina the county, after a contest of nearly two hun- 
dred, years, defeated the parish and the district in the struggle 
for the control of local affairs. The only place in the United 
States to-day where the parish is an important unit -in local 
affairs is in Louisiana ; but in this state ''parish" is simply 
another name for "county." 

(d) The County in Virginia. — In all the other southern 
colonies the county was the most important unit of local govern- 
ment. As county government in all these colonies was similar, 
a study of the Virginia county will serve for all of them. In 
Virginia the counties were divided into parishes, but the officers 
of the parish had little to do except to look after the affairs of 
the Episcopal church. The county had control of all the im- 
portant local matters. The county court consisted usually of 
eight or more members called justices. These justices were 
appointed by the governor, but were nominated by the justices 
themselves. As they would usually nominate themselves for 
reappointment, the county court was usually in the control of 
the large planters. This plan took the control of the more 
important local affairs out of the hands of the mass of the 
people ; but they seemed satisfied, and as a matter of fact the 
affairs of the county, as a rule, were well managed. The 
appointment of justices by the governor tended to give him 
undue control of local affairs, but the governors interfered 
very little in county matters. While the people did not elect 

13 



158 



The Thirteen Colonies 



their county officers, they took great interest in local questions 
and gathered at the county courthouse when the court was in 
session, and discussed public affairs. As a result of such 
informal meetings and discussions, the members of the court 
usually knew about what the people desired, and as a rule 
carried out their wishes. In addition to many other powers 
and duties, the county court acted as a judicial body and applied 
the law in certain cases ; it levied the county taxes and had 
general charge of the public money ; it looked after the public 
highway ; and it appointed a number of county officers and 
directed them in the discharge of their duties. The county was 
the local unit for the election of burgesses to the legislature 
of the colony. 

While there have been many changes since colonial days in 
the form of county government in \'irginia. Maryland, Xorth 
Carolina, and Georgia, the county still remains there the most 
important unit of local government. In all these states, at 
the present time, the people elect the men^bers of the county 
board and most of the other officers, thus placing local govern- 
ment directly in the hands of the people. The county in 
Mrginia has been considered very important because, it is 
claimed, the states west of the Appalachian Mountains followed 
it closely when organizing their counties. That part of the 
Mrginia system which gave great power to the county did. no 
doubt, influence the western country somewhat ; but the county 
systems of Pennsylvania and Xew York were followed more 
closely by the western states. In fact. X'irginia herself has 
adopted, to a large extent, the main features of the colonial 
county government of Pennsylvania and Xew York. 

(e) The County in A'rtc York; the Sitf'cnisor Plan. — In 
each of the middle colonies, as in all the other colonies except 
South Carolina and tluxse of New England, the county and not 
the township, parish, or district was the local unit that elected 
delegates to the legislature or law-making body of the colony. 
In all the middle colonies the county was the most important 
unit of local government. The county in Xew York and in 
Pennsylvania deserves special notice because the main features 
of the svstem of countv government in these two colonies have 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 159 

boon copiod in noarly all tho states west of the Appalachian 
^lountains, and in a nnniber of the states east of those moun- 
tains. 

As has already been seen, tho supervisor plan of county 
g'overnnient exists in a small c^roup of states. The main 
features of this plan have been copied from New York, as iirst 
adopted by that colony in ITOo. and changed later. In New 
York the members of the board were called supervisors, and 
were elected by the people of the townships. Thus the super- 
visors represented the different townships of the county. The 
number of supervisors in a county depends on the number of 
townships in that county, and on the number of supervisors 
each township is entitled to elect. Under this plan, therefore, a 
county might have only five supervisors or less, or it might 
have twenty-five or more. 

(f) Tlic County in Poinsylz'ania : The Coinniissiojicr 
Plan. — The Pennsylvania, or Commissioner Plan of county 
government dilTered from that of all the other colonies. The 
county system of this colony has been adopted by a larg^e 
majority of the states. In Pennsylvania the county board con- 
sisted of three members called commissioners. They were 
elected by all the people of the county — that is. each legal 
voter in the county could vote for all three commissioners. 
The people also elected a number of other important county 
officers. Great power in local affairs was given to the com- 
missioners, and considerable power to some of the other county 
officers. It will be seen from this that in Pennsylvania each 
county, so far as its local affairs were concerned, was a little 
republic and possessed very important powers. The county 
board in \'irginia also possessed very important powers ; but 
its members were appointed by the governor, while in Pennsyl- 
vania they were elected by the people, which is a very important 
diiterenco. 

100. Colonial Influence on Local Government: (a) Re- 
sult in Dittcrcnt Sections. — Most of those states which have 
adopted the Pennsylvania system of county government just 
explained have changed it somewhat, and Pennsylvania herself 
has done the same. In some states there are five instead of 



i6o The Thirteen Colonies 

three commissioners. Some states divide the county into three 
or more districts, and the people of each district elect a com- 
missioner. In some states, as in N'iri^inia and California, the 
men thus elected are called supervisors instead of commis- 
sioners ; but in such cases the main features of the plan may 
be found in the county system which existed in Pennsylvania 
when she was a colony. From all this it will be seen that 
Pennsylvania has had a profound effect on local government 
in the United States. 

As has been shown already, the parish, so far as the United 
States is concerned, has been defeated in the contest for the 
control of local affairs. Nowhere in the United States is it 
the most important unit of local government, except in Louisi- 
ana, where the name "parish" is merely another name for 
"county." The township remains supreme in New England ; 
but in all the rest of the United States, with the possible 
exception of Michigan, the county is the most important unit 
or division of local government. Up to the present time such 
has been the result of the contest of the parish, township, and 
county. There is nothing that seems to indicate that the 
county will not retain its present strong position. 

(b) Growth of the Principal Tonnisliip Government. — 
But while the country will, no doubt, remain the largest unit 
of local government, and will retain supreme power over those 
local affairs which affect the welfare of the people of the entire 
county, the principle of township government in the smaller 
local affairs is very strong, and many things indicate that it 
will become stronger and stronger. Frequently when a county 
becomes thickly settled, the people of a neighborhood desire 
direct control over those things which affect them, but do not 
affect the people of the rest of the county to so great an extent. 
While the people are willing to elect county officials and to 
have these officers attend to the general affairs of the county, 
they like to discuss and decide for themselves those things 
which more directly affect their neighborhood. 

In order that they may do this, the counties have been divided 
into districts of some kind. Nearly all the land west of the 
Appalachian Mountains has been divided by the government 



Institutional Life in the Colonies i6i 

of the United States into townships each six miles square. In 
most of the western states the counties have been divided into 
school districts and into precincts. In nearly all the states the 
people have provided that some one of these divisions of the 
county shall be used as a unit of government in matters that 
affect more particularly the affairs of each neighborhood. In 
some states they use for this purpose the division of the county 
called the township, but this may not be the government town- 
ship referred to above ; in others, the division called the precinct ; 
and in still others the division called the school district. 
Especially in the western states is the school district used for 
this purpose. The people who live in the division of the 
county used as this smaller unit of local government meet and 
discuss those questions which they wish to consider, and may 
decide them by vote. They may also meet to elect officers for 
their school district, or township, or county. All these meet- 
ings are based on the principle of the town meeting of New 
England. 

• From this discussion on local government it becomes plain 
that while Pennsylvania, New York, and to a certain extent 
A'irginia, have given to the nation the county, which has 
become the important larger unit of local government, New 
England has given to the nation the principle of the town 
meeting, which is a smaller but a most important unit of 
government. The town meeting, the school meeting, and the 
precinct meeting serve as excellent schools for training men 
in public affairs, and they should be attended by every citizen 
who has the welfare of his country at heart. 

State and Colonial Government 

State Government 

10 1. Relation to National and Local Government; Divi- 
sion and Source of Powers. — Next to the county in the affairs 
of government is the state. The states in matters of govern- 
ment have control of all those things that the people have not 
given to the national government, or which arc not controlled 
by the county or the smaller units of local government. The 



1 62 The Thirteen Colonies 

people of the United States have given to the national govern- 
ment control of all those things which affect the nation as a 
whole, and have reserved to the states all other powers of 
government. That part of these reserved powers which affect 
more directly the people of the entire state is given to the state 
government. The other part of these reserved powers belongs 
to the county and the smaller units of local government. 

The division of all these powers of government — national, 
state, and local — is stated and defined in the national and state 
constitutions, which have been adopted by the people either 
by direct vote or by representatives whom they have elected. 
The state constitutions give to the state government the power 
to outline and define in many ways the powers of local govern- 
ment ; but as the state officers are elected by the people, they 
carry out the wishes of the people in these matters. Thus it 
follows that in the United States the people are the source of 
all power, and that they have the power to change a law 
or even the form of government. 

102. Departments of Government: (a) Legislative De- 
partment. — National, state, and local government consists of 
three departments, namely, the legislative, the executive, and 
the judicial. The legislative department makes the laws; the 
executive department executes or enforces them ; the judicial 
department interprets, or tells what the laws mean, and 
applies them to the affairs of life. 

The legislative department in all the states consists of two 
houses. The upper house is the smaller, and in every state 
is called the senate. The lower house is usually called the 
assembly, or house or representatives. The legislative depart- 
ment of the national government also consists of two houses. 
The upper is called the senate, and the lower the house of 
representatives. The legislative department in the county con- 
sists of the board of commissioners or supervisors, and the 
legislative department of cities or other smaller units of local 
government consists of similar bodies. The members of the 
legislative department in all the states and in all the units of 
local government are elected by the people. The state legis- 
latures have important power and have control of many things. 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 163 

"All of the general laws under which our local governments 
and schools are organized, those referring' to the state and 
local courts and procedure in these courts, those dealing with 
the making and enforcement of contracts, the transfer of 
property, marriage and divorce, with the prevention of the 
spread of disease, with the incorporation of business houses — 
all of these form only a part of the vast number under the 
charge of the legislatures, the whole covering a set of subjects 
of the first importance not only because there are so many 
Init because all are of such interest to us in our homes and 
business life." 

(b) Exccutizc Dcpartuiciit. — In all the states the highest 
executive officer is the governor ; in the national government 
he is the President of the United States ; and in the cities he 
is called the mayor. In the counties the various county 
officials attend to the executive business. 

While the governor is at the head of the executive depart- 
ment of the state, there are a number of other executive officers 
in the state who assist in enforcing the laws. Among the other 
more important executive officers of each state are the lieuten- 
ant governor, secretary of state, controller, treasurer, superin- 
tendent of public instruction, and attorney general. The 
governor is always^ elected by the people, and so are the other 
executive officers, except that in a few states some of them are 
appointed either by the governor or by the legislature. The 
lieutenant governor usually presides over the Senate and takes 
the governor's place when the latter is absent from the state, 
or when he resigns or dies, or for any reason is legally removed 
from office. The other executive officers just named perform 
the duties of their various offices. All local officers also nmst 
assist in enforcing the laws of the state, and this is a great 
help to the state officers. The governor is by far' the most 
important executive officer in the state. He is commander in 
chief of the state soldiers, or militia, and when the other state 
or local officers cannot enforce the laws, he may call on the 
soldiers to assist in their enforcement. 

(c) The Judicial Department. — The judicial department of 
each state consists of a supreme court and of a number of 



164 The Thirteen Colonies 

lower courts. The judicial department of the national "govern- 
ment also consists of a Supreme Court and a number of lower 
courts. Next to the supreme courts of the state are the county 
courts, and next to the county courts are the city courts and 
justice's courts. In some states there are circuit or district 
courts between the supreme court and the county court. The 
judges in all these courts are elected usually by the people, 
but in several states some of them are appointed by the 
governor or legislature. The members of the supreme court 
are elected usually by the people of the entire state, and a 
judge in a lower court is elected by the people in that division 
of the state of which he is a judge. The city courts and 
justice's courts try the less important cases ; the county courts 
those which are of more importance ; the circuit or district 
courts those which are of still more importance, and from the 
last-named court cases may be appealed to the supreme courts. 
Many cases may be appealed from the lower courts in the 
state up through all the others, and some cases may be appealed 
from the state supreme court to the United States Courts. 

103. In What Respects State, National and Local Govern- 
ment Differ. — From the above brief discussion of state govern- 
ment it becomes plain that in general form, and divisions into 
departments, state government is almost exactly the same as 
national government, and that in those respects it closely 
resembles local government. The main difference in national, 
state, and local government is not in form but in the things 
each controls. As already stated, the national government 
has control of tliose things which affect in a general way the 
people of all the states ; state government has control of those 
things which affect more directly the people of a state; and 
local government has control of those things which affect still 
more diredtly the people of a small part, or division of the 
state. It is essential at this point for the pupil to see clearly 
these relationships. 

Colonial CoTcnuncnt 

104. Mode of Treatment. — The discussion which follows 
deals with that government in the various colonies which cor- 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 165 

responds to the state government which exists in the various 
states to-day. The more a person knows about state govern- 
ment, the more clearly he will see how it has grown out of 
colonial government. For this reason the teacher and pupils 
are urged (if they have not already done so) to make a some- 
what careful study of the government of the state in which 
they live, before taking up the study of colonial government. 

The colonial government discussed is that which existed in 
the colonies from about ITOO to the time of the Revolution, 
although in some respects the form of government which 
existed at the time of the Revolution had been established in 
some of the colonies before ITOO and in others not until after 
1700. The way in which each colony secured the form of 
government which it had between 1700 and at the time of 
the Revolution has already been briefly discussed under the 
head of "Origin. Growth, and Political History." The 
growth of colonial government, therefore, will not here be 
taken up ; the discussion will be restricted to that government 
as it then existed. 

105. Legislative Department in the Colonies: (a) Qitali- 
ficafioiis of Electors. — The colonial governments, like the state 
governments of to-day. consisted of three departments, — 
legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative depart- 
ment in all the colonies, like those in all states to-day, con- 
sisted of two houses. The lower house was usually called 
house of representatives, the assembly, or house of burgesses. 
In New England, members of the lower house represented 
the townships ; in South Carolina, the parishes and districts ; 
in all the other colonies they represented the counties. The 
members of the lower house, as is the case in all the states 
to-day, were elected by the people. But there was one im- 
portant difference. In all the colonies no one could vote for 
a member of the lower house, or for any other officer of the 
colonies, unless he owned a certain amount of property, 
whereas to-day in the United States no property qualification 
is required of a voter. The amount of property required 
varied in different colonies. Pennsylvania required the 
smallest amount, and South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia 



1 66 The Thirteen Colonies 

the lart;ost. In rcnnsylvania nearly all tax-paying freemen 
could vote; in South Carolina a member of the assembly \yas 
required to own five hundred acres of land and ten slaves, 
or houses and lots worth about five thousand dollars, and a 
man in order to vote for a member of the assembly was 
required to own fifty acres of land or other property on which 
he paid a tax of twenty shillini^s a year. 

(b) Upper Branch of the Lei^islature: Selection of Mem- 
bers. — The upper branch of the legislature in the colonies was 
called the council, and consisted usually of twelve members, 
called assistants, or members of the governor's council. Ex- 
cept in Connecticut and Rhode Island, the members of the 
council were either appointed by the governor or by the lower 
house, as was the case in Massachusetts, and approved by the 
governor. In Connecticut and Rhode Island the members of 
the upper house were elected by the people. Thus it becomes 
plain that except in these two colonies the governor, by his 
power of appointment, practically controlled the upper branch 
of the legislature. 

(c) Poicers of the two Honses. — It should be remembered, 
however, that with the exception of Connecticut and Rhoile 
Island, the upper house, or council, had very little to do with 
making the laws. It could not act on any bills that had any- 
thing t6 do with levying taxes or raising money unless that 
bill had first passed the lower house. Thus the people of each 
colony, through the men whom they had elected as members 
of the lower house, kept control of all mone\- matters, and 
insisted on the right to tax theiuselves — a right which English- 
men in luigland enjoyed. The main duty of the council was 
to advise the governor and to assist him in carrying out the 
duties of his office. It could usually review the laws passed 
by the lower house, and in some of the colonies could defeat 
them by an adverse vote. In Pennsylvania. Delaware, and 
Georgia the council couUk not even review the laws enacted 
by the lower house. In Connecticut and Rhode Island, where 
the members of the council, or house of assistants as it was 
called, were elected by the people, the upper house had almost 
as nnich power in making the laws as did the lower house. 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 167 

In each of the other colonies, however, the lower had hy far 
the more power in making all those laws which more directly 
affected the people of that colony ; bnt, as will be shown later, 
the governor or the king conld usually veto a law passed by 
the legislature. Of course all the laws passed by a colonial 
legislature had to be in harmony with the laws of England. 

106. Executive Department in the Colonies: (a) Classes 
of Go-rcniiiiciit. — The Executive Department in each colony 
consisted of the governor and the governor's council, or upper 
house of the legislature. Government in the colonies is some- 
times divided into three classes — Charter, Proprietary, and 
Royal. This classification is based mainly on the manner in 
which the governor was selected, but to some extent, however, 
on the possession or non-possession of a charter by a colony. 
In Connecticut and Rhode Island the governor was elected 
by the people, as was also the case with the members of both 
the upper and the lower house of the legislature. The form 
and the power of the government in these two colonies were 
defined in the charter granted by the king. This form of 
government, therefore, is called charter government. 

In HV.Vi King Charles I granted to Lord Baltimore a tract 
of land that included what is now the state of Maryland. In 
l(i"-?() King Charles II granted to William Penn a tract of 
land that included what is now the present state of Pennsyl- 
vania, and three years later Penn bought from the Duke of 
York a tract that included what is now the state of Delaware. 
Baltimore and his heirs were called the proprietors of Marv- 
land, and Penn and his heirs were called the proprietors of 
Pennsylvania and Delaware. The proprietor of Marvland and 
the proprietor of Pennsylvania and Delaware each could act 
as governor of his colony or appoint a governor. Usually 
they appointed governors. The governor of Pennsylvania was 
also governor of Delaware, but the latter colony had a legisla- 
ture of its own. As the governors of these colonies were the 
proprietors or men appointed by them, this form of govern- 
ment is called proprietary government. In all the other 
colonies, except in Connecticut and Rhode Island, the gover- 
nors were appointed by the king. This form of government is 



i68 



The Thirteen Colonies 



called royal government. While the governor of Massachu- 
setts was appointed by the king, the colony also had a charter, 
and her government therefore was about half royal and half 
charter. 

But these names as to class of government are of very little 
importance. The important facts are that in the thirteen 
colonies the lower and by far the more important branch of the 
law-making body was elected and controlled by the people ; 

• that in all the colonies ex- 
cept Connecticut and Rhode 
Island the council, or upper 
house of the legislature, 
was not elected by the peo- 
ple, but was appointed by 
the governor ; and that in all 
the colonies, with the same 
two exceptions, the gov- 
ernor was not elected by 
the people, but was ap- 
pointed either by the king 
or by the proprietor. 

(b) Powers of the Goz'- 
crnors. — The royal govern- 
ors and the proprietary 
governor of Maryland pos- 
In addition to seeing that the 
laws were enforced, they appointed nearly all the judges and 
a large number of other officers. They also possessed the very 
important power of vetoing the laws passed by the legislature. 
In Pennsylvania and Delaware the governor had less power. 
He could appoint no officers except the judges. The legislatures 
controlled the government of these two colonies and would not 
permit him to interfere with making the laws. As the gover- 
nors of Connecticut and Rhode Island were elected by the peo- 
ple, they were directly responsilile to them. All appointments 
were made by the governor and both houses of the legislature 
when sitting together as one body. Usually the relations be- 
tween the governor and both houses of the legislature were 




William Penn 
scssed very important powers. 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 169 

friendly, and they worked together harmoniously, which was a 
great contrast to the constant quarrels between the governors 
and the legislatures of the other colonies. This was due to the 
fact that in Connecticut and Rhode Island the governors were 
elected by the people, while in the other colonies they were 
appointed either by the king or by the proprietors. 

107. The Judicial Department in the Colonies. — In some of 
the details the judicial department differed in the various 
colonies, but in general form and structure it was the same in 
all the colonies. The supreme or highest court in each colony 
consisted usually of the governor and the council, or upper 
branch of the legislature. This court corresponds to the 
supreme court in the various states at the present time. The 
supreme courts in the colonies, like the supreme courts in the 
states to-day, tried the more important cases, as those relating 
to murder and divorce. Certain cases, as is also true in the 
states to-day, could be appealed from the lower courts up to 
the supreme courts. In many of the colonies the county courts 
were next to the supreme courts, but in some of them there was 
a court between the county and the supreme court. This court 
was usually called the court of common pleas. The members 
of the county courts were appointed by the governor. In most 
of the colonies the county courts transacted most of the legal 
business, and the same is true of the county courts in the states 
at the present time. Below the county courts came the justice's 
courts. As is the case to-day, they were the lowest of all the 
courts, and decided the smaller civil and criminal cases. 

108. The National Authority in the Colonies. — The na- 
tional government in the colonies was the same as that of 
England. The English Parliament and the English king were 
the highest government authority in England, and they were 
also the highest government authority in the colonies. The 
English king and Parliament bore, in a general way, the same 
relation to the colonies that the national government of the 
United States at the present time bears to the various states. 
When the people of the colonies became independent, they 
established the national government to take the place of the 
English king and the English Parliament. But it is of vital 



i^o The Thirteen Colonies 

importance to note carefully that the people of the colonies 
would not admit that the ]Cni;lish Parliament could control them 
except in a jj^eneral way. They would admit that the king- was 
the head of the nation, and that in national matters he was 
supreme ; hut they would not admit that Parliament could 
lejijislate for them except on such matters as commerce and 
navij:^alion, which were of a general nature and which afifected 
the entire IJritish Kmi)ire. 

The people of each colony maintained that they were 
represented in their colonial legislature in about the same way 
as the people of F<ngland were represented in the English 
Parliament, and that each of the colonial leg^islatures bore the 
same relation to the king as did Parliament, except that the 
latter could pass laws that applied to the general affairs of the 
entire Empire. When a colony had any business with the 
English government, it insisted on dealing with the king and 
not with I^irliament. In taking this stand the people in the 
colonies were in the right, for they were simply insisting on the 
rights held by all luiglishmen. Englishmen had the right to 
decide what taxes they should pay and to make most of their 
laws in a legislature consisting of men whom they had elected. 
The colonists did not help elect the members of l\arliament, and 
therefore that body had no right to interfere w'ith those matters 
that more directly afifected the home affairs of each colony. 
Neither did the king have this right; and when George III 
through a Parliament over which he had gained control tried 
to do this the jH-ople of the colonies rebelled ratlicr than lose 
the right to tax themselves and make the laws which afifected 
their home affairs. 

109, Relation of Colonial Government to Present State 
Government.— We have already seen that local government of 
lo-dav is the direct outgrowth of local government in the 
colonics. I'rom a study of colonial government it becomes plain 
that the legislative, executive, and judicial departments of the 
state governments in the United States at the jiresent time are 
sim|)lv the modification and expansioti of those departments in 
the colonies. The colonial legislature consisted of a lower and 
an upper house. The lower house corresponds to the lower 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 171 

house in the stale legislature to-day, and there have not been 
many important changes in its nature. The council, or upper 
house in the colonies, corresponds to the state senate, or upper 
liouse in the state legislature at the present time, but this 
council has imdergone a great change. The members of the 
senate are elected by the people, and the senate has as much 
power in making laws as the lower house. The governor is at 
the head of the state executive department to-day, as he was 
at the head of that department in the colonies, but now he is 
elected by the people. The same close relation between colonial 
times and the present time exists in the judicial department. 
The different courts in the colonies correspond closely to the 
courts in the states at the present time, except that many of the 
judges are now elected by the people. At the present time tlie 
courts are separate and distinct bodies, whereas in the colonies 
they were often the legislative and executive departments. The 
colonial governments of Connecticut and Rhode Island were so 
much like those of to-day that their charters were adopted as 
their state constitutions, and remained in effect until 1818 in 
the case of Connecticut, and until 1842 in that of Rhode Island. 
The only important change was the omission of the king's 
name in the public records and documents. 

The greatest change in government since colonial times has 
been in the election of officers and in the right to vote. Nearly 
all officers — local, state, and national — are now elected by the 
people, whereas in the colonies many of them were appointed. 
In the colonies no one who did not own a certain amount of 
property could vote for any officer of the colony or for any local 
officer. Now no property qualification is required of any voter 
in the United States. All this means that the people have 
become much more democratic since colonial times. 

RELIGION 

no. Religious Liberty at the Present Time. — If the gov- 
ernment of any civilized nation at the present time should kill, 
or imprison, or punish in any way, a person because he belonged 
to a certain church, its action would be severely condemned by 
almost every one. Scarcely any one to-day believes that a man 



172 The Thirteen Colonies 

should be killed or punished in any way simply because he may 
be a member of the Methodist, Presbyterian. Catholic, or any 
other ciun-ch. The rij^ht of a person to think and to act in 
reliiiious matters as he may desire, so lont:;- as he does not 
interfere with the rii^hts of others, is now conceded by almost 
everybody. St) thorouj^hly is this principle established and 
accepted that the government of the United States, or that of 
any other civilized nation, would use its entire power to protect 
its citizens in their rights to enjoy cjuietly and peacefully their 
religious ideas. The right of a person to enjoy quietly and 
peacefully his religious ideas is called "religious liberty." 

111. Religious Persecution in Europe. — Strange as it now 
seems, people have enjoyed religious liberty but for a very short 
time. Less than two hundred and fifty years ago men and 
women were put to death in almost every nation simply because 
they wished to belong to some other church than the one 
protected by the government. In Spain, P^rance, and Germany 
thousands were killed for this reason, and many more were 
imprisoned or otherwise punished. Hundreds were put to death 
in England for the same reason. In all of these countries men 
and women were tortured in various ways and were burned to 
death because they would not uphold the established or state 
church — that is, the church protected by the government. In 
KJHG thousands of Huguenots were massacred in France. 
Women and children were dragged from their beds in the night 
and murdered, because of their religious ideas. From 1G85 to 
1700 fully two himdred thousand Huguenots left France in 
order to escape these religious persecutions. From 1550 to 
1050 more than one hundred thousand perished in the religious 
wars of Europe. 

112. Religious Persecutions in the Colonies: (a) In 
Massachusetts. — These persecutions for religious reasons were 
not restricted to the Old World. Some of the English colonics 
in America did the same thing. For a long time in Massachu- 
setts men and women were not permitted to establish any 
church except the Congregational, or Puritan church, or to 
teach or preach any religious doctrine except that of the 
Congregational church. The government of Massachusetts 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 



173 



whipped, imprisoned, and banished men and women because of 
their religious ideas. These persecutions did not stop with such 
punishments. Four Quakers were hanged in Boston, — two 
men in 1659, one woman in IGGO, and another man in KKil. 
These four people were hanged b}- order of the court simply 
because they insisted on preaching in the colony the doctrines 
of their church. It is absolutely incorrect to say that the 
Puritans came to New England for the purpose of establishing 
religious liberty. They came to the New World in order to 
escape the persecutions of the Established church in England. 




Puritan Service in Plymouth Church 

They had no intention whatever of permitting any church to 
be established in New England except the Congregational 
church. 

(b) In Some of the Other Colonics. — Some of the other 
colonies were almost as severe as the colony of Masachusetts. 
In V^irginia there were severe laws against the members of all 
churches except those of the Established church. Members of 
other churches were imprisoned and banished from the colony. 
The Catholics first settled Maryland and granted religious 
liberty to every one in the colony ; but as soon as the members 

14 



174 



The Thirteen Colonies 



of the Established church secured control of the colony, they 
passed severe laws ag^ainst the Catholics and at^ainst the mem- 
bers of other churches as well. With l)ut few exceptions the 
Catholics were persecuted in all the colonics. 

113. Causes of Religious Persecutions. — It is but natural 
that people to-da}- should condenm severely the relij^ious perse- 
cutions referred to above. lUit it should be remembered that 
the people of to-day would probal)ly have done the same thin<2^ 
had thcv lived in those times and under the conditions which 
then existed. Ncidier can the churches be held responsible for 




PoiIKK CllLKC H, Mol'NT VeRNON, ViKCIXIA 



these persecutions, because this narrow spirit in religious 
matters represented simjily the general spirit of the times. In 
F.urope tlie ])ersccutions were carried on in the name of the 
Catholic church: in N'irginia and Maryland and to a large 
extent in England, in the name of the Church of England; and 
in New England, in tlic name of the Puritan church. Until 
about two hundred and tifty years ago, the leading or state 
religions of almost every nation during the past twenty-five 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 175 

hundred years persecvited and even killed those who did not 
agree with them on religious questions. 

It may be said that religious persecutions have been due to 
the fact that the great mass of the people were not as well 
educated nor as highly civilized as they are at the present time. 
It has been true in the history of the world, that when a large 
number of the people in a nation become fairly well educated, 
ihey have demanded political liberty ; that is, the right to make 
tlie laws which they must obey. When the people of a nation 
have secured the right to make their own laws, they have 
usually become more liberal in religious matters and have 
insisted on religious liberty. This tends to prove that religious 
lil)erty in a nation follows closely general education and political 
liberty, and that it does not depend on the attitude of any 
church. ]\lan by nature is apt to be narrow and unjust in 
religious matters, and it has required long centuries of educa- 
tion and civilization to make him broad and liberal along these 
lines. 

114. Growth of Religious Liberty in the United States: 
(a) Effect of Public Schools. — The United States was one of 
the first nations to establish complete religious liberty. At the 
beginning of the Revolution most of the colonies had already 
established religious liberty, and the Revolution swept away the 
last vestige of religious persecution. From the very first Rhode 
Island was very liberal in religious matters, and this was also 
true of Pennsylvania. The members of all churches could 
worship in the latter colony without the least fear of persecution. 
In 1789 Congress recommended the religious policy of Pennsyl- 
vania for adoption by all the states. One of the main things 
that caused the growth of religious liberty in the colonies was 
the establishment of public schools. . For centuries the churches 
of the leading religion of a nation had control of education. 
This was also true in early Virginia and most of New England ; 
but gradually in nearly all the colonies the government took 
control of education. This step soon caused education to 
become more generally diffused among the people. It also 
prevented any church from using any public money to establish 
schools in which children were taucrht its own doctrines. The 



176 The Thirteen Colonies 

churches may, and most of them do, maintain private schools ; 
but it is the settled policy of the United States to maintain a 
free public school system, which shall not bo under the control 
of any church and in the schools of which the doctrines of no 
church shall be taught. 

(b) Separation of Church and Slate. — Another thinp^ that 
helped to cause the rapid sjrowth of relij^ious liberty in the 
colonies was the separation of church and state. In the colonies 
of Massachusetts and New Haven the church and state were 
united at first, and in Virginia and several of the other southern 
colonies public money was used for the support of the church. 
But the Puritan church was soon separated from the govern- 
ment in New England, and while the Established church in 
Virginia received public money until about the time of the 
Revolution, it had little or no control of the government of that 
colony. The separation of church and state helped the growth 
of religious liberty, l)ecause when a church loses control of the 
government it is placed en an equal footing with all the other 
churches, and has no power to persecute any one. 

This is as it should be. Religion is a question that each person 
must settle for himself — it is a question between each person 
and the Supreme Being. The churches can better carry out 
their mission without control of the government or of the free 
public school system, and no clunxh nor person should interfere 
with any one because of his religious ideas. 

EDUCATION 

115. Comparison of Colonial and Modern Schools. — Very 
few of the boys and girls who are now attending the public 
schools in the United States realize what a great advantage 
they have over those who went to school fifty or even twenty- 
five years ago. The primary, the grammar, and the high schools 
have improved wonderfully during the past twenty-five years. 
Eighty-five years ago there were very few free public schools 
in the United States, and they did very poor work compared 
with those of to-day. The average high school now is doing as 
good work and is ofifering as high-grade courses of study as 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 177 

were Harvard and Yale colleges in 1800, and this was one 
hundred and seventy years after Boston was founded, and one 
hundred and sixty-four years after Harvard College was 
founded. It has been said by one writer that the grammar 
schools of to-day are doing as good work as did William and 
Mary College in Virginia one hundred and twenty-seven years 
ago at the beginning of the Revolution. For one hundred and 
fifty years after Virginia and New England were first settled 
there were practically no public schools of any kind in any of the 
southern colonies. While it is true that soon after they were 
founded all the New England colonies except Rhode Island 
passed laws which compelled every town with fifty or more fam- 
ilies to maintain a public school of some kind, these laws were 
not always properly enforced. From the very first, however, 
there were a number of schools in New England, and in matters 
of general education this section was far ahead of all the other 
colonies. Nearly everybody in New England was able to read 
and write, but a majority of the children were taught at home. 
116. Condition of Schools in England. — The free public 
school system of England was not established until 1870. When 
the colonies were first settled, and for a long time afterward, 
education in England, as compared with that of to-day, was in 
a most wretched condition. In 1700 more than half of the 
English people could neither read nor write their own names, 
and as late as thirty-two years ago (187))) twenty out of every 
hundred could not. When the English colonies in America 
were founded, there were no public schools in England. There 
w'as a number of church and other private schools, but a large 
majority of the boys and girls did not attend these. Therefore 
when the Englishmen who f(umded the colonics Itft the mother 
country, there were no public schools there, and education was 
controlled by the church and by private indiA'iduals. It was 
but natural that these men should have followed the same plan 
of education in the New World. New conditions in the colonies 
caused this plan to be changed somewhat. In some of the 
colonies the change was hardlv an improvement; in New 
England and in certain of the middle colonies the change was 
for the better. 



,78 



The Thirteen Colonies 



117. Education in the Southern Colonies: (a) The 

Clc}\i!;y and the Schools. — At the time the southern colonies 
were settled the churches and their ministers had had control of 
educational afifairs in England and in all the other nations of 
Europe for more than fifteen hundred years. The j:;overnment, 
or civil power, did not control nor provide for either public or 
private schools, this matter beings left to the church and to 
private individuals. When the southern colonies were settled, 
therefore, it was l)ut natural that the people should leave the 
question of education to the church just as they had done while 



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in England. The church that was rccopi'nizcd by the sj^overn- 
luent in all the southern colonies, except in Maryland for a 
short time, was the Church of Enj^land. L'nfortunately, the 
Ivstahlished cluirch in these colonies, until after the Revolution, 
had comparatively few ministers well fitted to take the lead in 
])opular education. As a result educational conditions in the 
southern colonies were not so t^ood as in l*j\Qland. 

(1)) Plantation Life ami Opposition of Royal Goi'crnors. — 
Aiuong the chief obstacles to improvement of educational 
conditions in the southern colonies were the manner of living 
and the opposition of the royal governors to any general system 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 179 

of education. As the land was held and cultivated in large 
tracts, called plantations, the population was widely scattered, 
and this naturally hindered the building up of towns and 
schools. A plantation generally containe'd hundreds of acres, 
and on this lived the owner and his family and a large number 
of servants, both black and white. The planter usually had a 
tutor for his children, — often the minister, — and after prepara- 
tion under the tutor the sons were often sent to England to 
finish their education. 

This plan of restricting education largely to the upper class 
was encouraged by most of the royal governors, they being 
strongly opposed to any general system of education. They 
believed that the lower classes should not be educated, as that 
would make them less contented and harder to govern. This 
feeling is shown plainly in a report made in KiTl by Sir William 
Berkeley, royal governor of Virginia. In this report to the 
Lord Commissioners of Foreign Plantations he said : "I thank 
God there are no free schools nor printing, and I hoj^e we shall 
not have these hundred years ; for learning has brought 
disobedience, and heresy, and sects into this world, and printing 
has divulged them, and libels against the best governnient. 
God keep us from both." 

(c) Schools; College of Williain and Mary. — With poi)ular 
education in the hands of ministers who took very little interest 
in it, with most of the royal governors opposed to a system of 
general education, and with the adverse conditions of the 
plantation system of living, nothing but a very poor system of 
schools could be expected to exist in the southern colonies. 
And just such a system did exist to a very lamentable degree. 
Up to the time of the Revolution, Georgia and South Carolina 
had scarcely any schools whatever. North Carolina had but 
two, and they were of little importance. There were no public 
schools in Virginia, but there were a few private ones, taught 
by the ministers and freed servants. A few schools were 
established by wealthy men who were interested in education, 
and these were among the best in the colony. A college was 
established in 1G92 by royal charter from King William and 
Queen JMary, and was given their names. Before the Revolu- 



i8o The Thirteen Colonies 

tion, however, the work done by this collcc^e was no hi^q^hcr than 
that done to-day in the better orrammar schools. In Maryland 
the condition of the schools was abont the same as in Virj^inia. 
The legislature passed several laws which provided for the 
establishment of a public school in every county. Some of 
these schools were established, but they had become almost 
worthless, or had ceased to exist, by the time of the Revolution. 
Maryland deserves credit for having' been the only southern 
colony that made any real efTort to establish schools that would 
be under the control of the people of the colony, represented by 
the legislature. Massachusetts, however, had set the example 
in this important matter long before Maryland passed the first 
law of this kind in KiiX!. 

ii8. Education in New England: (a) hithicncc of 
Purifanism. — The church and the ministers determined the kind 
of education in New h'ngland, just as they had in the southern 
colonies. In New England they were successful in establishing 
a better system of education than that which existed in Eng- 
land. In the New England colonies the Puritan ministers 
belonged to the highest class ; they were the best educated men 
in these colonies, usually college graduates; they were intensely 
earnest and devoted to their work, and their lives were pure, 
honorable, and upright. The I^uritan religion demanded that 
every man and woman shcnild read and understand the Ilible, 
and it therefore became the duty of the ministers to see to it 
that all the pco]ile should receive enough education to enable 
■them to do tliis. It thus becomes plain that it was the character 
of the ministers and the nature of the Puritan religion that 
caused to be established in New England a better system of 
education than was established in the southern colonies. 

(b) First Public School Law: Influence of Church on 
Legislation. — In 1047 the legislature of the Massachusetts P>ay 
colony enacted a law which re(|uired every town that contained 
fifty or more families to maintain a school. The schools 
provided for by this law were not free schools, as are the public 
schools of to-day. The pupils who attended were required to 
pay tuition. Neither did this law result in the creation of a 
general system of public schools, because it was not always 



Institutional Life in the Colonies i 8 i 

obeyed and could not be enforced. A number of scbools bad 
been estabHsbed, and a few more were estabbsbed under tbis 
law. Reading-, writing, spelling, and aritbmetic were taugbt 
in tbese scbools. 

Tbe law of 1()47 was of great importance, not merely because 
of tbe scbools wbicb were estabbsbed under it, but because it 
was tbe first time in modern bistory tbat tbe legislature or civil 
power of any colony, state, or nation bad provided for a public 
scbool system. For more tban fifteen bundred years education 
bad been entirely under tbe control of tbe cburcb. Tbis law 
estabbsbed tbe principle tbat tbe state, a civil power, sbould 
control educational matters. Wbile this law, therefore, was of 
some importance to early New England, it was to be of mucb 
greater importance to tbe United States, because it helped to 
establish tbe principle on wbicb our whole free school system 
of to-cfay rests. Doubtless we sbould have our free public 
scbools to-day, whatever might have been done in colonial 
times ; but great honor and credit are due to Massachusetts for 
establishing so early tbe great and valuable principle of civil 
control of education ; for without a free public school system, 
wbicb provides for tbe education of all the people, a free and 
liberal government cannot long exist. 

The passage of this law and tbe early establishment of tbis 
])rinci])le were due to the Puritan religion and the Puritan 
ministers. I'p to 1G<S4 the church and state in Massachusetts 
were united. None but members of tbe Puritan church could 
bold office or vote; and as the ministers were all able men, well 
educated, and held in high esteem by tbe members of their 
churches, their ideas and wishes were carried out in the laws. 
As was stated before, the Puritan religion required that 
everybody should be educated in order to read and understand 
the Bible. It was the duty of tbe ministers, therefore, to see 
that the people were educated, and as this could be done best 
by the civil authorities, they had tbe government of tbe colony 
establish a public school system. 

(c) Elementary Education in Neiv England. — Although 
tbe school law passed by Massachusetts in 1647 was not 
complied with by many towns and was opposed by some, the 




Frontispiece to an Old Spelling Book 
182 



Institutional Life in the Colonies 183 

colony passed otlicr laws of a similar nature, all tending to 
create a public school system. Some of these laws imposed 
fines on towns that ne,i;lccted to maintain schools. Many towns 
paid these fines rather than compl}' with the law. Notwith- 
standing^ this opposition many public schools were established 
and the children who did not attend them or private schools 
were taut;ht at home. As a result, nearly everybody in 
Massachusetts could read and write. When the colony became 
a royal province in 1()84, and the ri^^ht to vote and hold office 
was not restricted to members of the Turitan church, the public 
schools began to decline. This was because the Puritan 
ministers then lost their influence over the legislature, and could 
no longer secure school legislation. iUit the good example set, 
and the good results secured, were of great value. 

The school laws of Massachusetts soon intluenced the other 
New England colonies. Connecticut passed school laws very 
much like those of Massachusetts, and when New Hampshire 
was separated from Massachusetts and became a royal province 
in 1(57!), she continued in effect the school laws of Massachu- 
setts. As a result, the public schools in these two colonies were 
very much like those of the older colony. Ijecause of the 
unsettled condition of the government in Rhode Island, the 
condition of education was not as good there as in the other 
New England colonies. Several schools were established, 
however, and earnest efforts were made to better the condition 
of education. 

(d) New England Colleges. — Not only do the New England 
colonies deserve great credit for beginning our public school 
system, but they also deserve great credit for laying the founda- 
tion of some of the greatest universities in the United States. 
There were many graduates of English universities among the 
early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay colony, and as soon as 
tfie colony became well established, they set about founding a 
college for the training of ministers. This was accomplished 
within seven years after the charter of the Massachusetts Bav 
Company was granted. In ](i;5n the General Court made an 
appropriation for the establishment of a college at Newton 
(later called Cambridge), and two years later the college was 



184 The Thirteen Colonies 

given the name Harvard, in honor of John Harvard, who died 
leaving his Hbrary and a large part of his estate to the college. , 
Sixty-five years later Yale College was founded in Connecticut 
on the same general lines as the older college. Still later 
Dartmouth College was founded in New Hampshire and Brown 
College in Rhode Island. While these colleges, during the 
colonial period, were little better than our present high schools, 
they kept alive and encouraged a love of learning; and after the 
Revolution they gradually developed, and some of them are now 
among the leading universities of the world. 

119. Education in the Middle Colonies: (a) N'cxv York 
and Xcw Jersey. — In the matter of education the middle colonies 
were behind New England and ahead of the southern colonies. 
New York was as well provided with schools as any of the 
middle colonies, ^\'hen under the control of the Dutch, several 
fairly good schools were established and were partly supported 
by the government ; but when the English got control of the 
province, education declined. There was no well-established 
church to take charge of education. The legislature did nothing 
except to give a little financial aid to some private schools in the 
city of New York, and to pass an act for the 'establishment of 
grammar schools in the same city. The schools established 
under this act were few and they did not prosper. The best 
schools in the colony were the private schools in the city of New 
York. Some of them were in charge of fairly good teachers, 
and did fairly good work in the lower branches. 

In New Jersey the condition of education was about the same 
as in New York. The legislature did nothing toward the 
support of the schools. Some of the towns that had been settled 
bv people from New England levied taxes to help pay the 
school-teacher, and in a number of towns very good schools 
were maintained. The Presbyterian church was earnest in its 
effort to educate the people, and succeeded in maintaining a 
number of schools in which reading, writing, spelling, and 
arithmetic were taught. The majority of the children in this 
colony, as in New York, had no chance to attend a school of 
any kind, and had to depend entirely on their parents, friends, 
or minister for instruction. 




Benjamin Fuanklin 
At the age of sixty, after a painting by Martin 



185 



1 86 The Thirteen Colonies 

(b) Education in Pcnusylrania and Delaware; Benjamin 
Franklin. — Outside of Philadelphia and one or two other towns, 
the condition of education in Pennsylvania and Delaware was 
very poor, much worse than in New Jersey or New York. The 
majority of the people in the country could neither read nor 
write. Here, as in New Jersey, the Presbyterians made earnest 
efforts to educate the people. They maintained their "log- 
cabin" schoolhouses in the face of the most trying conditions, 
and did a noble work for the colony. From the very first the 
city of Philadelphia maintained schools where any child could 
attend by paying a small tuition fee, and if the child were too 
poor to pay this fee, there were charity schools which he could 
attend where no charge was made. In matters of education, 
newspapers, and learning in general, Philadelphia was one of 
the most progressive cities in the colonies. At the time ,of the 
Revolution she possessed two good libraries and was the center 
of learning in the thirteen colonies. Franklin was her leading 
citizen, and the greatest scholar in America. His scientific 
researclics. one result of which was the discovery of the 
principle of the lightning rod, made him honored and respected 
in Europe. 

(c) Colleges of I he Middle Colonies. — The middle colonies, 
like New England, laid the foundations of some of the greatest 
universities in the United States. The first movement toward 
founding a college was in 1743, when Franklin made plans for 
establishing a university. He was unal)le to accomplish any- 
thing then, but six years later organized an academy which, by 
1775, grew into a college and received a charter. This was the 
founding of the Tniversity of Pennsylvania, which perhaps 
ranks first among all the colonial colleges, especially along 
scientific lines. Within six years after its founding there were 
over four hundred students in attendance, and the college was 
sufficiently prosperous to provitle a high class of instruction for 
all. New Jersey owes her first college to the Presbyterian 
church, which in 174(5 established a college at Princeton. While 
this college (now Princeton University) did not have as rapid 
a growth as the one in Pennsylvania, it was well managed, and 
the instruction was good. Tn abmit llie middle of the eighteenth 



Questions and Topics 187 

century the Episcopal church founded King's College (now 
Columbia University) in New York City; but this institution 
did not prosper in colonial days, owing to the general feeling 
of opposition which then existed in New York toward the 
Episcopal church. It has since developed, and now, with 
Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania, ranks among 
our greatest institutions of higher education. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 

INSTITUTIONAL LIFE IN THE COLONIES 
Introductory 

Questions for Class Recitations 

Explain carefully what is meant by the institutional life of a na- 
tion. Show carefully by illustrations how the life of every citizen 
'is related to each of the five institutions. Why should a nation be 
judged largely by the condition of its institutions? Tell in a gen- 
eral way how topography, climate, and soil brought about different 
conditions in the North and South. (All of the fiuestions given 
above are somewhat difficult, but they are very important and 
should receive most careful consideration.) Make a careful com- 
parison of the topography, climate and soil of the southern colon- 
ies and the New England colonies. Compare the topography, cli- 
mate, and soil of the middle colonies with the topography, climate, 
and soil of the New England and the southern colonies. Explain 
fully and carefully how topography, climate, and soil have afifected 
the history of the United States. 

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 

Questions for Class Recitations 

Why do topography, climate, and soil affect bu iness or indus- 
trial conditions more than any other of the institutions? Describe 
fully what industrial life includes. What were tlie leading southern 
products? Tell all you can about the culture of tobacco in the 
southern colonies. Give a careful explanation of why laws were 
passed to regulate its production and the quality exported. Discuss 
the production of rice and indigo in the southern colonies. Discuss 
the production of cotton in these colonies. Tell to what extent 
other products were raised in each of the southern colonies. Ex- 
plain carefully how topography, climate, and soil encouraged the 
growth of large plantations in the South. Discuss the selling and 



1 88 The Thirteen Colonies 

buying of produce and goods on the plantations. Discuss the effect 
of large ;^lantations on the growth of cities. Explain carefully how 
the large plantations affected the growth of slavery. Why were 
there few free laborers in the South? I low did the lack of free 
labor affect the growtli of manufactures, commerce, and similar 
industries? 

Why were there no large plantations in New England? Wh}' did 
the farmers of New England raise a great variety of products in- 
stead of a few staples, as did tlie planters of the South? What 
caused many of the peoi)le of New England to engage in other 
occupations besides farming? Describe the manufactures of New 
England. Tell what you can of the fisheries. Discuss the con- 
ditions of tr.ule and coniinerce, and explain carefully their effect on 
the wealth and prosperity of New England. Why was there so 
little slavery in New England? If instead of a hilly country, poor 
soil, and cold winters. New England had had a warm, pleasant 
climate, and had consisted of broad, fertile plains, what would 
have been the effect on industrial life and on slavery? Describe 
carefully the condition of farming in the middle colonies, and ex- 
I)lain carefully how this condition of farming in these colonies was 
related (o to])ography, climate, and soil. Comjiare the condition 
of farming in the middle e<i]onies with its condition in the southern 
colonies and in New England. Describe tiie manufactures of the 
middle colonies. Why did England try to prevent the growth of 
manufactures in the colonies? Mow did this affect the colonies? 
Describe the commerce of Philadelphia and New York. Explain 
carefully the effect of industrial conditions in the middle colonies 
on slavery. Compare this effect with the effect of these conditions 
on slavery in New England and in the southern colonies. What 
does all this prove as regards the effect of topography, climate, and 
soil on the history of the United States? 

Compare the condition of the professions of law and medicine in 
the colonies with the condition of these professions to-day. De- 
scribe the character and position of the ministers of New England. 
Explain very fully why the ministers were of so much importance 
and had so much more intluence in New England than in any of 
the other colonies. In what way and why did the ministers of 
Massachusetts lose much of their influence after that colony became 
a royal province? l^escribe the character and work of the minis- 
ters of tlu' middle colonies. What is a state or Established church? 
Is it good public policy to have a church supported by public taxes? 
What can you say of the ministers of the Established church in the 
southern colonies? Why did they have less 'influence than the 
ministers of the other colonies or of the other churches in the 
South? When the Episcopal church ceased to be the state church, 



Questions and Topics 189 

what change took place in the character and influence of its min- 
isters? Describe the character and work of the ministers of the 
other churches in the southern colonies. 

What was the general conditif)n of the medical profession in the 
colonies? Tell what you can <jf this profession in Pennsylvania, 
noting the ability of tiie doctors, the medical schools, and the hos- 
pitals. What can you say of the profession of law in the colonies? 
What change was there in the condition of this profession just be- 
fore the Revolution? Compare the southern with the middle and 
New England colonies in respect to the character and ability of 
their lawyers. 

Questions for Compositions and Ex.\minations 

What is meant by the institutional life of a nation? Show by 
illustrations how the life of every citizen is related to each of the 
five institutions. Why are topography, climate, and soil important 
influences in history? Discuss the topography, climate, and soil 
of the South and their effect on the industrial life of the southern 
colonies. Discuss the topography, climate, and soil of the middle 
colonies and New England, and their effect on the industrial life 
of these sections. Discuss the causes of the growth of large plan- 
tations in the South. Discuss the relation of the plantation system 
to the growth of slavery and to the growth of cities. Discuss the 
effect of slavery on manufactures and commerce in the South. 
Compare the industrial conditions of New England with those of 
the southern colonies, and discuss the cause of difference. Discuss 
the commercial industries of the middle colonies. Discuss the con- 
ditions which tended to cause the growth of slavery in the South 
and to cause abolition in the North. Show the effect of this on the 
industrial and political life of the nation. Discuss the character 
and position of the ministers in the colonies, comparing those of 
different sections of the country. Discuss the condition of the 
medical profession in the colonies. Discuss the profession of law 
in the colonies, 

SOCL\L CONDITIONS 

Questions for Class Recitations 

(In connection with the questions on Social Conditions, each 
pupil should read the first number of Hart's "Source Readers in 
American History," pp. 165-199, and the second number of these 
readers, pp. 1-69. See "Explanatory and Suggestive," page ix.) 
What constitutes social life? In what way is the institution of 
society related to the other institutions? Explain fully the more 
important conditions affecting social life in the colonies, and com- 



190 The Thirteen Colonies 

pare those conditions with some of the conditions which exist to- 
day. Name and describe carefully the four classes of society that 
existed in the southern colonies. (Each pupil should draw a map 
of the southern colonies and indicate plainly on it the strip of 
countrj^ in which the large plantations and the slave population 
existed.) What was the condition of the negro slave when he was 
first brought to America? Why was he not educated in the south- 
ern colonies? Describe the laws relating to the negroes. WHiy 
were such laws passed? Tell all you can about the actual treat- 
ment of the slaves. Explain carefully why there was a difference 
in the treatment of slaves in the extreme southern colonies — 
•Georgia and South Carolina — and those southern colonies farther 
north. Give a careful discussion of some of the results of slavery. 
Describe the character of the indented servants of the southern 
colonies. Give a full description of how they were treated. Com- 
pare their condition with that of the slaves. What distinctions ex- 
isted between the middle and upper classes in the southern colon- 
ies? In wliat way did slavery affect the attitude of the upper class 
toward tradesmen and merchants? Describe the character and 
position of the southern gentlemen. What can you say of their 
patriotism? Name some of the leading patriots of our nation who 
belonged to the upper class in the southern colonies. Show how 
the conditions of plantation life tended to develop men of strong 
character and ability. Describe the industrial life on a large plan- 
tation. Describe the dress of the upper class. What amusements 
were most popular with the Southerners? Describe the rural field 
sports. 

What classes of society existed in New England? Describe each 
class. Describe the treatment of the slaves and indented servants. 
Upon what basis did the distinction between the middle and upper 
classes rest in New England? How did this differ from the South- 
ern basis of aristocracy? How did a man's social position in New 
England affect his prominence on politics? How did class distinc- 
tion enter into the everyday life of the people? How did they 
affect college life? What was the effect of the Puritan religion on 
the dress and amusements of the people? Describe the amuse- 
ments of the New England people, ^^^^at effect did the coming of 
the royal governors have on the social life of New England? 

Compare the middle colonies with those of New England and 
the southern colonies in regard to white and slave population. 
What classes of society were found in the middle colonies? Com- 
pare the treatment of slaves in these colonies with their treatment 
in the southern colonies and in New England. What was the char- 
acter of the indented servants of the middle colonies? What pro- 
portion of the total population of the middle colonics was of Eng- 



Questions and Topics 191 

lish descent? Compare lliis proportion with the proportion which 
existed in New England and in tlie southern colonies. Of what did 
the aristocracy of New York consist? Compare the owners of 
large estates on the Hudson with the large landholders of the 
South in respect to position and power. Describe the dress and 
amusements of the people of the country and small towns.- De- 
scribe the dress and amusements of the upper classes in the cities. 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Discuss the general conditions' affecting social life in the colonies. 
Discuss briefly the classes of society existing in the colonies. Dis- 
cuss the condition of the slaves in the colonies, comparing their 
condition in the various colonies. Discuss the middle class in New 
England and in the southern and middle colonies. Discuss the 
character and position of the upper class in New England, and in 
the southern and middle colonies. Discuss the social distinctions 
existing in New England and in the South. Discuss the dress and 
amusements of the people of the colonies. 

GOVERNMENT 
Questions for Class Recitations » 

Under what different forms or divisions of government does each 
person live? Briefly describe each division. Explain carefully how 
each person is a member of each of these divisions. Explain care- 
fully why the laws of these different forms of government do not 
conflict. How did these different forms of government and these 
different laws come to exist? Why do we have so many different 
divisions of government and so many different laws? What is 
national government? Explain carefully what constitutes local 
government. What is the most important unit or division of local 
government? Who carries out the powers and duties of the 
county? How are the members of this board selected? By what 
two names are the members of this board known? Do most of 
the states call them supervisors or commissioners? How are the 
supervisors elected? How are the commissioners elected? Ex- 
plain carefully the powers and duties of the county board of com- 
missioners or supervisors. Name some of the other more iinport- 
ant county officials. (Before taking up the next topic, the teacher 
and pupils should make a careful study of the duties and powers of 
all their county officials, and also of their city, township, and school 
officials.) 

Compare the powers of the county in the colonies with its powers 
to-day. Compare the powers and duties of the county in the New 
England, the southern, and the middle colonies. E.xplain carefully 



192 The Thirteen Colonies 

what constituted the township in New England. Explain carefully 
what constituted the town meeting. Give a careful explanation of 
the duties, powers, and value of the town meeting. Compare the 
powers and duties of the town meeting in New England during 
colonial times with those which the county court then possessed 
tiiere. Compare the powers and duties of the town meeting in 
New England at the present time with those which the county 
ofticials now possess there. Compare the powers and duties of the 
county in South Carolina during colonial times with those which 
the parish and district possessed there at that time. Compare care- 
fully the duties and powers of the county in South Carolina at the 
present time with those which the parish and township now pos- 
sess there. What is the nature of the parish as it exists in Louis- 
iana to-day? 

What wevQ the powers and duties of the parish in Virginia during 
colonial times? What was the county board in Virginia called? 
W^hat were the members of this board called? How were they 
elected? Explain carefully the powers and duties of the county 
court in Virginia. During colonial times, how did the powers and 
duties of the county in Virginia compare with the powers and du- 
ties of the county in Georgia, North Carolina, and Maryland? Ex- 
plain carefully the changes which have taken place in the county 
in these states since colonial times. To what extent did the Vir- 
ginia county affect the organization of the county in the West? 
Compare the powers and duties of the county in the middle colon- 
ies with those which the township and parish there possessed at 
that time. Why does the countj^ as it existed in the colonies of 
New York and Pennsylvania deserve special notice? Give a care- 
ful discussion of the New York county, and explain carefully to 
what extent it afifected the organization of the county in the West. 
Give a careful discussion of the Pennsylvania county and explain 
carefully to" what extent it afifected the organization of the county 
in the West. Compare the New York, the Pennsylvania, and the 
Virginia county of colonial times with regard to powers and duties 
in local government. 

State briefly, but clearly, what the result has been in the contest 
of the county, township, and parish for power in local government. 
What will very likely be the future of the county as to power in 
local affairs? Explain carefully the influence and the value of the 
principle of township government in the smaller local affairs. Ex- 
plain why the people desire to have these smaller^ units of local 
government. To what extent is this desire being carried out at the 
present time? W^hat is the value of these smaller units of local 
government? What is the duty of every citizen toward them? 



Questions and Topics 193 

What afifairs of government are under the control of the state 
government? What afifairs of government are under the control 
of the national government? How did each of these forms of gov- 
ernment secure the powers which they have? Explain carefully 
how the people in matters of government in the United States are 
the source of all power. Of what three departments does national, 
state, and local government consist? What are the general powers 
and duties of each department? What is the object for dividing 
government into these three departments? Of what two houses or 
divisions does the legislative department of the state and national 
government consist? What is the object of this division? What 
is the legislative department of the county? How are the members 
of the legislative department of state and local government se- 
lected? Discuss the powers and duties of the legislative depart- 
ment of state government. 

What is the highest executive officer in the national government 
called? What is he called in the state governments? Who are the 
executive officers in the county government? What are some of 
the other state executive officers called? How are the state execu- 
tive officers selected? Tell what you can about the general powers 
and duties of the state executive officers. Of what do the judicial 
departments of the state and national governments consist? How 
are the state and local judges elected? Tell what you can about 
the powers and duties of these different courts and how cases may 
be appealed from one to the other. 

In what respects are local, state, and national government alike? 
Explain carefully the real difiference between these three forms or 
divisions of government. (Before taking up the next topic the 
teacher and pupils should make a general but careful study of the 
government of the state in which they live.) 

Into how many departments was the government of the various 
colonies divided? What was the lower house of the legislature 
called in the different colonies? How were the members of the 
lower house elected? Explain carefully what qualifications were 
required of those who voted for members of the lower house. 
What was the upper house of the legislature called? How were its 
members selected in the various colonies? Name some of the 
more important powers and duties of the lower house in the va- 
rious colonies. Name the more important powers and duties of the 
upper house of the legislature in the various colonies. Compare 
these powers and duties with the powers and duties which belong 
to the upper branch of the state legislature at the present time. Of 
what did the executive department of the government in the 
various colonies consist? Explain carefully how the governor in 
each colony was selected. Explain how the manner of selecting 



194 The Thirteen Colonies 

the governors gave rise to three so-called classes of government 
in the colonies. Explain in what respects these three classes of 
government dififered. Explain carefully how the people really con- 
trolled the law-making body in each colony. What were the pow- 
ers and duties of the governors in each colony? Of what did the 
judicial department in each colony consist? What were the dif- 
ferent courts in each colony called? How were the judges of these 
courts selected? What were the powers and duties of these dif- 
ferent courtN? 

Of what did the national government in tlie colonies consist? 
Explain carefully to what extent the colonists were willing to ac- 
knowledge tlic authority of Parliament. In what respect did Par- 
liament and tlie legislatures of tlic colonics hear the same relation 
to the king? Why was this principle very important to the colon- 
ists, and wh}' did they insist on carrying it out? 

Compare carefully the lower branch of the colonial legislatures 
with the lower branch of the state legislatures. Compare carefully 
the upper branch of the colonial legislatures with the upper branch 
of the state legislatures. Compare carefully the executive depart- 
ments of the colonial legislatures with the executive department of 
the state legislatures. Compare carcfulh^ the judicial departments 
of the colonial legislatures with tlic judicial departments of the 
state legislatures. To what extent does all this indicate that state 
government is simply the modification and expansion of colonial 
government? In what respects has government changed most 
since colonial times? 

QUE.STIOXS FOR COMPOSITIONS AND Ex.XMINATIONS 

Discuss the relation between local government in the colonies 
and local government at the present time. Sliow in what way the 
state legislative department to-da}- is simply an outgrowth and 
modification of the legislative department of the colonies. In what 
waj'S do the state executive departments to-day resemble the 
executive departments in the colonies? Explain the relation be- 
tween the judicial department of to-day and the judicial department 
of the colonic^. What change has there been since colonial times 
as to the number of officers elected d rcctly by the people? What 
change has there been as to the (lunlifications of voters? 

Rl-I.IGION 
Questions for Class Recitations 

To what extent may a person at the ]n-csent time do as he 
pleases in regard to religious matters? What is meant by religious 
liberty? Describe the religious persecutions which have taken 



Questions and Topics 195 

place in Europe. Compare the condition of religious liberty in the 
United States to-day with its condition in Europe about the time 
the colonies were settled. Did the Puritans come to America for 
the purpose of establishing religious liberty? Tell all you can 
about the persecution of people in New England on account of 
their religious ideas. Describe the religious persecutions' in the 
other colonies. Tell what you can about the laws made in the 
various colonies against certain churches. To what conditions are 
religious persecutions due? What is the relation between political 
and religious liberty? How are general education and political 
liberty related? Describe religious conditions in Rhode Island and 
Pennsylvania. Explain how the establishment of public schools 
aided the growth of religious liberty in the United States. Explain 
carefully the importance of the free public school system to the 
welfare of the nation. What is meant by the separation of church 
and state? How did the separation of church and state affect the 
growth of religious liberty in the colonies? 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Discuss the condition of religious liberty in Europe about the 
time the colonies were settled. Discuss the condition of religious 
liberty in the colonies. Discuss the growth of religious liberty in 
the United States. Discuss the causes of religious persecution. 

EDUCATION 

Questions for Class Recitations 

(In connection with the questions on Education, each pupil 
should read the first number of Hart's "Source Readers in Amer- 
ican History," pp. 201-233. See "Explanatory and Suggestive," 
page ix.) Compare carefully the schools of the colonies with those 
of to-day in regard to number, kind, and nature of work. Explain 
carefully the condition of the schools and general education in 
England at the time the colonies were settled. Describe the school 
system that existed in England at that tiine. Explain fully, how 
and to what extent the condition of education in England aflfected 
the condition of education in the colonies. 

How did the character of the ministers influence educational con- 
ditions in the South? What was the efifect of plantation life on tlie 
building up of schools? What was the attitude of the royal gov- 
ernors toward general education, and what effect did this have on 
the establishment of schools? How were the sons of the rich 
planters educated? Describe the condition of education in the 
southern colonies. Tell what you can of the founding of the Col- 
lege of William and Mary. Give a full description of the influence 



196 



The Thirteen Colonies 



of the Puritan ministers on education in New England. Explain 
carefully how the Puritan religion served to encourage education 
and the establishment of schools. Tell what j'ou can of the first 
laws establishing public schools in America. Explain carefully 
why these laws were of great importance in the history of the 
world. Describe the public schools in each of the New England 
colonies. Describe the founding of colleges in New England. Tell 
what you can of the customs and studies in these colleges. Com- 
pare tlic schools of the middle colonies with those of New England 
and the southern colonies. What support did the government give 
to the schools in the middle colonies? Describe the educational 
work of the churches. How did the general education of the 
people of the middle colonies compare with that of the people of 
New England? Describe the schools of Philadelphia, and explain 
fully the work of Franklin in advancing education. Compare the 
colleges of the middle colonies with those of New England. 

Questions for CoMrosiTioNs and Examinations 

Discuss the educational conditions in England at the time of the 
founding of the colonies. Explain how the plan of education in 
England affected education in the colonies. Discuss the influence 
of the ministry upon education in the colonies. Discuss the origin 
of the public school system. Compare New England, the southern, 
and the middle colonies in respect to general education. Why was 
New England ahead of the other colonies in the matter of general 
education? Discuss the colleges of the colonies. Compare in a 
general way educational conditions in the colonies with educational 
conditions in the United States at the present time. 



ORIGIN OF AMERICAN 
INSTITUTIONS 



HOW SLEEP THE BRAVE 

How sleep the brave, wlio sink to rest 
By all their country's wishes blest! 
When Spring, with dewy fingers cold. 
Returns to deck their hallowed mold, 
She there shall dress a sweeter sod 
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 

By fair)' hands their knell is rung; 
By forms unseen their dirge is sung; 
There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray. 
To bless the turf that wraps their clay; 
And Freedom shall awhile repair, 
To dwell a weeping hermit there. 



-William Collins 



ORIGIN OF AMERICAN 
INSTITUTIONS 

I. American Institutions: Changes in, and from where Derived 

II. Government in England 

1. Relation to Government in the United States 

2. Outline of Struggle between King and People 

3. The Five Rights Demanded by the English People 
(a) The Right of Taxation 

(6) The Right of Habeas Corpus 

(c) The Right of Trial by Jury 

(d) The Right of Privacy in the Home 

(e) The Right of Refusing to Quarter Soldiers 

4. How Englishmen Secured Their Rights 

III. Transfer of English Rights and Institutions to America 



197 



198 Origin of American Institutions 



ORIGIN OF AAIERICAN INSTITUTIONS 

120. American Institutions; Changes in, and from where 
Derived. — The discussion and study of "Institutional Life in 
the Colonies" has indicated plainly that the five institutions as 
they exist in the United States to-day are the direct outgrowth 
and modification of these institutions as they existed in the 
colonies. These five institutions of business, society, govern- 
ment, religion, and education have changed somewhat since the 
Revolution. With some of them the change has been greater 
than with others. There has been a great change in the institu- 
tion of business or industrial life, due largely to the great 
number of useful inventions and discoveries, such as the 
railroad, telegraph, electricity, and the vast supply of useful 
machinery of all kinds. These discoveries and inventions, 
together with changes in the other institutions, have brought 
about a great change in the institution of society or social life. 
There has been considerable change since the time of the 
colonies in the institutions of government, religion, and educa- 
tion. It is worthy of special notice, however, that in no instance 
has the change affected the real nature of any one of the five 
institutions. In no instance has the change been sudden or 
rapid ; it has always been slow and gradual, much like the 
gradual growth of a tree. 

On all the more important points each of the five institutions 
is the same to-day as it was when the English colonies were 
first planted in the New World. Many people do not seem to 
realize this. They seem to think that the English people since 
they settled in America, and especially since the colonies 
became the United States, made or created these institutions. 
This idea is wrong. The English settlers brought them over 
from England when the colonies were first settled. These 
institutions, in one form or another, have always existed in all 
nations, but the particular forms or kinds brought over from 
England had been gradually developed by the English people, 
during a period of more than a thousand years. In order to 
understand many things in the history of the United States, it 



Origin of American Institutions 199 

is necessary to learn something about how the EngHsh people 
developed their institutions, and especially is it necessary to 
learn something- about how they developed the institution of 
government. It is interesting as well as valuable to study the 
institution of government in England before the English people 
settled in America. 

121. Government in England; Relation to American 
Government. — In England, at the present time, the national 
government consists of three departments, — executive, judicial, 
and legislative, — and it consisted of three departments when 
Columbus discovered America. As has already been stated, 
the national government in the United States consists of the 
same departments. In England the king is the head of the 
executive department, as is the President in the United States, 
but the king of England at the present time has not so much 
power and authority in the affairs of government as has the 
President of the United States. The judicial department in 
England is very much like the judicial department here. The 
legislative department in England, like the legislative depart- 
ment in the United States, consists of two houses, — the Upper 
House, called the House of Lords, and the Lower House, called 
the House of Commons. The members of the House of 
Commons are elected by the people, as is the case with the 
members of the House of Representatives of the United States 
Congress. The House of Lords is composed of members of 
the English nobility. Each member holds his position in that 
House because of his title, while the members of the United 
States Senate are chosen by the state legislatures. 

From this brief outline of the national government of 
England it becomes plain that the general plan of the govern- 
ment of the L^nited States, and of the government of each 
state, was brought over from England by Englishmen when 
they founded the colonies. The same is true in many respects 
in regard to our local government. The county and township, 
in one form or another, have existed in England for more than 
a thousand years. In fact, the germs or beginnings of the 
county and township, and of many other forms of our govern- 
ment, existed among the wild Teuton tribes in the vast forests 



200 Ori2:in of American Institutions 

of Gemiany before three of them — Jutes. Angles, and Saxons — 
conquered England and became Knglishmen. C^ur ancestors, 
therefore, before they were called Englishmen, began to 
develop in the forests of Genuany the forms of government 
which we enjoy to-day. 

122. Outline of Struggle between King and People. — The 
legislative department of the English government b.ad a hard 
struggle with the king, or executive department. Its powers 
were not well defined and hnnly established until after the 
American Revolution. In fact, the Revolution was one of the 
causes that brought about the complete victory of the English 
Parliament, as the English legislative department is called. In 
this small book the growth of the English Parliament cannot 
be discussed to any great extent ; but as the history of its 
growth is also a part of the history of our national and state 
legislatures, there are a few things concerning it that should be 
noted, at least briefly. In 10(Ui the Xormans. from X'ormandy 
in France, conquered England. Their leader, William, the 
Duke of Normandy, became king of England. Before the 
Xomians conquered England, the earls and bishops and other 
g^eat men of the kingdom met from time to time and made the 
laws for the nation. \\'hen William became king he did away 
with the meetings of these men, except for the purpose of 
paying him homage. He made all the laws himself, and his 
officers and soldiers enforced them. He levied taxes, and 
imprisoned and executed men without due process of law. His 
power was supreme over all England, and the people had 
nothing whatever to say about the goyeniment. William used 
his power for the welfare of the English people, but some of 
his children and descendants, who afterwards ruled England, 
were very unjust and oppressive. Before the reign of William 
I. the English people had never been under despotic rule, 
and they were not willing that their king should have such 
power. They began to demand the right to make the laws 
which they must obey. The struggle was a long one and 
resulted in a number of wars. In 1(>40. as has already been 
stated. King Charles I was beheaded because he tried to 
overthrow the rights which the people had secured. The 



Origin of American Institutions 201 



English people were not completely successful in their contest 
for self-government until within the last hundred years; hut 
they had secured a great many rights and powers in the 
government by the time Virginia and Massachusetts were 
founded. The people of 
no other nation in mod- 
ern times had secured so 
many civil and political 
rights as the people of 
England enjoyed at that 
time. 

123. Five Great Eng 
lish Rights: (a) 7\'/;'/// 
of Taxation. — In a cor 
tain sense it may lie said 
that tlie long struggle 
f(ir civil and i:)o]itical 
liberty in England began 
about eight hundred and 
forty years ago (lOCi!), 
when W^illiam I became 
king of England. One 
of the main things for 
which the h'.nglish people contended throughout all this long- 
struggle was the right to vote the taxes which they were to pay. 
They did not care so much about the taxes or duties which 
were levied on the commerce between England and other 
nations, but they wished to control all home or internal taxes. 
They wished to vote these taxes through a legislature or 
parliament which represented them. 

( b) The Right of Habeas Corf^us. — The people also insisted 
that a law should always exist that would prevent the king or 
any ot^cer in time of i)eace from arresting any one and keeping 
him in jail, unless the reasons for his arrest were stated and he 
had been proven guilty of the charges made against him, by 
due process of law — that is. by a regular trial before the proper 
court or jury. The law which gives a man the right when 
arrested to have the reasons for his arrest stated, and the right 




RiNC. ClIAKM' 



202 Origin of American Institutions 

to be brought before the proper court or judge and tried on the 
charges made, is calkxl Habeas Cor]ius. This is a very important 
law. because when it does not exist officers can arrest any one. 
no matter if lie be innocent ami an excellent man. and keep him 
in jail the rest of his life. This is exactly what some of the 
English kings did. and this is why the English people were 
determined to secure this right by law. 

(c) The Right of Trial by Jury.— The Right of Trial by 
Jury is another right which the people were determined to 
possess. This is a very important right, and it was developed 
slowly. Under this right, a man who has been arrested or 
accused of violating a law may insist on being tried by a jury 
of his fellow-citizens, usually twelve in number. Those who 
know anything about the matter of which the man is accused 
must tell it on oath to this jury. If the jury, after listening to 
all the evidence, decides that the man is guilty, he must be 
punished: if it decides that he is not guilty, the charge against 
him nuist be dismissed, and if he has been arrested, he must be 
set free. 

(d) The RigJit of Priz'acy in the Ho)uc. — The people also 
wished a law to exist that would make it impossible for an 
officer in times of peace to secure from the king, or from any 
other department or officer of the government, a general 
warrant or order of any kind that would give him the right to 
search any man's private house. They were willing that a 
special warrant, called a search warrant, might be issued that 
would give an officer the right to search a certain house, pro- 
vided the warrant named the house and stated the object of 
the search. This -was a very important law, because, in the 
absence of such a law. officers can go through the country and 
search all private houses, seize property, aitd in other ways 
make the people a g-reat deal of trouble. 

{c) Tlic Right of Refusing to Quarter Soldiers. — The 
people were also determined to prevent soldiers from being 
quartered on them in times of peace. Quartering soldiers on 
a man means compelling him to take soldiers into his house in 
times of peace and to keep them. The English kings often did 
this, and it naturally worked a great hardship on the people. 



Origin of American Institutions 203 

The five rights outhned above arc the ones which the EngHsh 
people were especially determined to secure. These rights 
protect the lives, the property, and the homes of the people. 
Stated in a clearer and more concise form, these five rights are 
as follows : — 

(1) The Right of Taxation. This means the right of the 

people to determine matters of taxation by a body of 
men who represent them. This right is sometimes 
referred to as "No Taxation without Representation." 

(2) The Right of Habeas Corpus. This means the right of a 

person to be free from arrest and imprisonment in times 
of peace, unless he be charged with a specific crime and 
found guilty within a reasonable time by the proper 
court or jury. 

(3) The Right of Trial by Jury. This means that when a man 

has been arrested, or accused of violating the law, he 
may demand that a jury of his fellow-men shall decide 
whether he is or is not guilty. 

(4) The Right of Privacy in the Home. This means the right 

of a person not to have his home searched by an officer 
in times of peace unless that officer has a written order 
from the proper department of government, whicii names 
or specifies his house, and states the object for which the 
search is to be made. 
(.5) The Right of Refusing 
to Quarter Soldiers. 
This means that a per- 
son in times of peace 
may refuse to keep sol- 
diers in his house, or to 
provide food and lodg- 
ing for them. 
124. How Englishmen Se- 
cured Their Rights: (a) 
Mai^)ia Cluirta. — The English 
people had to go through a 
long and hard struggle in 

order to secure these rights. King John 

10 




204 Origin of American Institutions 

When a despotic kinj:^ became, very oppressive and unjust the 
people would take up arms and compel him to respect their 
rights and to grant them more. In 121. ") the great l^arons of 
England made war on King John and compelled him to sign a 
paper in which he pronn'sed to be just in his government, and 
that the English people should forever enjoy many of the 
rights for which they had been contending. This paper, or 
document, wdiich John signed is called ^lagna Charta, which 
means the Great Charter of English liberties. 




Facsimile of Portion of Magna Charta 



But King John and many of the kings who followed him 
did not carry out the promises contained in the Great Charter, 
and so the struggle went on from century to century, the 
disputes often resulting in war between the people and the 
king. During all this time the rights of the people were 
becoming more and more firmly established. By 1 1^00 Parlia- 
ment, that is, the national legislature or law-making body of 
England, had become established, and was divided into the 
House of Lords and the House of Commons. Many of the 
kings were still o])pose(l to Parliament, and in many ways 



Origin of American Institutions 205 



would govern the people without its consent and against its 
wishes, but it was becoming stronger and stronger. By 1600 
Parliament had become' still more powerful, but King James I 
compelled it to adjourn, and tried to rule without it. He could 
not levy taxes, however, because the right of Parliament to do 
this had become firmly established. 

(b) Petition of Right. — When Charles I became king in 
lG2o, he attempted to raise money without the consent of 
Parliament, but in 1G2S it forced him to sign a paper called the 
Petition of Right. In many respects this was like the Great 
Charter which King John was forced to sign in 1215. By the 
Petition of Right, 
Charles promised 
that the people 
should enjoy the 
rights stated in it 
and those granted 
in the Great Char- 
ter. When Par- 
liament adjourned, 
however, he began 
to violate his prom- 
ises and to raise 
money without its 
consent. The peo- 

pie made war 

against him, and in 1(149 he was beheaded. Parliament then 
ruled England without a king for ten years, at the end of which 
time Charles's son became king. 

(c) Victory of the People.— Other kings tried to deprive 
the people of their rights, but the authority of Parliament has 
been supreme since the American Revolution. Although many 
Englishmen could not vote for the members of Parliament at 
that time, this legislative 1)ody represented the people. Thus 
after a struggle of more than seven hundred years the English 
people had firmly established many rights, chief among which 
were the rights to tax themselves and make the laws ; the right 
of Habeas Corpus; the right of privacy in their homes; the 




2o6 Origin of American Institutions 

right not to have soldiers quartered in their homes ; and the 
right of trial by jury. 

125. Transfer of English Rights and Institutions to 
America. — When the English people came over from England 
and founded the English colonies in America, they brought 
with them their ideas of what the nature of the five institutions 
should be. They came from a land where their ancestors for 
ccTiturics had worked and fought and died in order to secure 
civil and political rights. English history was their history, and, 
like the Englishmen who remained in England, they loved the 
important rights which Englishmen had secured. If necessary, 
they were willing to die to preserve them. 

(a) Paiiiaiiiciif and flic Colonial Lci^islafiires. — As has 
been already seen, each colony had a legislature which made 
the laws and levied all its home or internal taxes. But there 
was one very important difference between the legislatures in 
the colonies and the Parliament of England. The members 
of the House of Commons were elected by the people, but very 
few of the English people had the right to vote. The members 
were not elected by the township or county. They represented 
cities and districts, or boroughs, and a member was not required 
to live in a city or borough in order to represent it. He might 
live in one end of England and represent in the House of 
Commons a city in the other end. In the colonies a member 
of the lower ])ranch of the legislature represented a county, 
township, or district, and it was necessary for him to live in 
the county, township, or district that he represented. Every 
man who owned a small amoun^ of property could vote for 
meml)crs of the lower branch of the legislature. The legisla- 
tures in the colom'es. therefore, were nuich more democratic 
than was the Parliament of bjigland. 

(b) Croti'lJi of Pof^iilar IJIwrly in Ihc Colonics. — The 
I'.nglish ]X"o]ik' in the colonies, therefore, were not onlv enjov- 
ing the rights which they brought with them from h'.ngland. 
but were rapidly extending them and securing others, and were 
establishing all these rights more firmly than were the l%nglish- 
men who remained in bjigland. This was due to the fact that 
thev lived far from Ivigland and the attention and infiuence of 



Questions and Topics 207 

the king, and under new conditions in a new and wild country 
that naturally developed independence in character and action. 
It was also due to the fact that most of those who founded the 
colonies were men of strong character and determined purpose, 
for usually it was only men of this character who were willing 
to leave their old homes and face the hardships of the New 
World. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 

ORIGIN OF AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS 

Questions for Class Recitations 

Explain to what extent the five institutions as they exist in the 
United States to-day are rehitcd to tlie form and condition of those 
institutions as they existed in the cok)nics. Wliat has caused the 
change in these institutions since colonial times? From where did 
the particular forms or kinds of these institutions as they existed in 
the colonies come? For about how long were they being devel- 
oped before they were brought to America? 

Explain quite fully the relation of government in l'2ngland to 
government in the- United States. Give a brief statement of the 
long struggle between the Enghsh king and the English people 
over the question of English rights. Explain fully what is meant 
by the Right of Taxation. Why are the people so anxious to have 
this right? Explain fully what is meant by the Right of Habeas 
Corpus. Why is this right so valuable? Explain fully what is 
meant by the Right of Trial by Jury. Why is this a very valuable 
right? Explain fully what 'is meant by the Right of Privacy in the 
Home. Why are the people anxious to have this right? Explain 
fully what is meant by the Right of refusing to Quarter Soldiers. 
Why is this a valuable right? 

What is the Magna Charta? How did the English people secure 
it? What did the English people do when a king disobeyed this 
charter, and tried to take away their rights? Wiiat is the Englisli 
Parliament? What part of the national government of the United 
States corresponds to Parliament? When did Parliament first be- 
come fairly well established? How did most of the English kings 
treat Parliament? Discuss the struggle between Parlianient and 
James I and Charles I. How did America assist in helping to 
establish firmly the authority of Parliament? How were English 
rights and institutions transferred to America? What was the 
feeling of the colonists toward England and English rights and 



2o8 Questions and Topics 

institutions? What caused the five institutions, and especially the 
institution of government, to become somewhat cnanged in the 
colonics? What was the nature of this change in the institution of 
government? 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Discuss the relation of government in England to government in 
the United States. Discuss the five more important English rights, 
explaining the nature and value of each. Discuss the struggle be- 
tween the English people and their kings over these five important 
rights. Discuss the transfer of English rights and institutions to 
America. 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 



THE CONCORD FIGHT 

By tlic nulc l)ridgc that arched the flood, 
Their Hag to April's breeze unfurled, 

Here once the embattled farmers stood. 
And fired the shot heard round the world. 

The foe long since in silence slept, 
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; 

And Time the ruined bridge has swept 

Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. 

On this green bank, by this soft stream, 

We set to-day a votive stone. 
That memory may their deed redeem. 

When, like our sires, our sons are gone. 

Spirit, that made those heroes dare 
To die, and leave their children free, 

Bid Time and Nature gently spare 
The shaft we raise to them and tliee. 

— Ralph Waldo Emerson 



Copyright l)y Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 



CAUSES AND BEGINNINGS 

I. Causes of the Revolution 

1. King George's Opposition to Popular Government 

2. General Cause: Attempts to Overthrow the Right of Tax- 

ation 

3. English Control of Colonial Commerce 

(a) Navigation Acts 

(b) Writs of Assistance 

4. Taxation without Representation 

(a) The Stamp Act and the Stamp Act Congress 
(&) The Declaratory Act and the Townshend Acts 

(c) The Boston Massacre 
(cl) The Tax on Tea 

5. The Repressive or Intolerable Acts 

II. The Beginnings of the Revolution 

1. Growth of Colonial Union 

(a) Attempts to Transport Americans for Trial 
(6) Colonial- Committees of Correspondence 
(c) The First Continental Congress 

2. Lexington and Concord 



The Second Continental Congress 

The Battle of Bunker Hill 

The Siege and Capture of Boston 

The Declaration of Independence 

Comparison of Resources of England and America 



CAMPAIGNS 

I. Nature and Object of the Three Campaigns Planned by the 
British 

II. The Campaign to Separate New England from the Other 
States, and the Campaign against Pliiladelphia and the 
Middle States 

1. Capture of New York City 

2. Retreat across New Jersey and Capture of Trenton 

3. Operations in Canada and in Northern New York 

4. Summary of the War During 1776 

209 



2 1 o The American Revolution 

5. Tlic Capture of Philadelphia 

6. Tlie Surrender of Burgoj'ue 

7. Some Results of Burgoyne's Surrender 

8. Other Events of the War in the New England and Middle 

States 

III. The Campaign against the Southern States 

1. The Surrender of Savannah and Charleston 

2. The Defeat of Gates at Camden 

3. Green's Southern Campaign 

IV. The Closing Events of the War 

1. The Surrender of Cornwallis 

2. Some Results of the Surrender at Yorktown 



Causes and Beginnings 2 1 1 



CAUSES AND BEGINNINGS 

Causes of the Revolution 

126. King George's Opposition to Popular Government. — 
George III was king of England from 1760 to 1820. He 
became king three years before the treaty of peace was signed 
that ended the French and Indian War and that gave to 
England all of Canada. King George was determined actually 
to rule England and her colonies, and not merely to reign and 
be called king. He did not believe in popular government, and 
was determined that his authority should be supreme. It must 
be said that he wished to rule in the interests of his people, but 
he was not willing that they should rule themselves. In order 
to carry out his plans successfully, he saw that it would be 
necessary to overcome most unfavorable conditions. He could 
not make laws, because the principle had become firmly estab- 
lished that no power in England, except Parliament, could do 
that. 

In order really to govern England and her colonies, it was 
therefore necessary for him, in some way or another, to get 
control of Parliament ; and this he proceeded to do. The man 
who represents the majority in the House of Commons, and 
really directs the legislation of Parliament and is the real head 
of the English government, is called the Prime Minister. The 
king has the right to select the Prime Minister, but this officer 
cannot hold his position unless he has the support of the majority 
of the members of Parliament, and especially of the majority in 
the House of Commons. Ever since he had become king, George 
had put forth every efifort to secure a Parliament that would 
do as he desired, and that would support any Prime Minister 
whom he might appoint. By bribery at election, and by 
granting favors to members of Parliament, he gradually 
succeeded in doing this. By 1770 he had gained complete 
control of Parliament, and at that date appointed Lord North 
Prime Minister. Lord North was a man who would carrv out 



2 1 2 The American Revolution 

his wishes. King George was now in a position to rule as well 
as reign, provided his subjects in England and in America were 
willing to submit to his rule. It soon became plain that they 
were not. The Americans took up arms in defense of the 
ancient liberties of Englishmen. The result was the complete 
defeat of the king and his ideas of government. Xever since 
then has a king of England attempted to rule as w-ell as reign. 

127. General Cause; Attempt to Overthrow Right of 
Taxation. — As indicated above, the American Revolution was 
caused by the attempt of King George and his Parliament to 
take away from the Americans the rights of Englishmen. 
While King George has been justly held responsible for the 
Revolution, he did not begin the policy that finally drove the 
colonies into rebellion. The French and Indian War had cost 
England a large amount of money. After this war it became 
necessary to maintain soldiers in Canada and among the 
Indians. This meant a- constant expense to the English 
government. The French and Indian War was of .great value 
to the colonies as well as to England, and the English soldiers 
maintained in Canada after the war were also of great value to 
the colonies. Parliament very naturally thought that the 
Americans should bear part of the expense. It was certainly 
right and just for the colonies to do this. Parliament, however, 
should have asked the colonies to raise their share of the money 
by taxing themselves ; but instead of doing this it proceeded 
to tax the colonies itself by levying a home, or internal, tax on 
them. 

(a) Rcl^rcscnfatioii of the Colonists in Parliament. — The 
Americans considered this a violation of the right of taxation. 
They claimed that Parliament had no right to tax them, because 
they were not represented in that body. But many Englishmen 
insisted that the Americans were represented in Parliaiuent 
fully as much as many people in England were. There was 
much truth in this, because more than half the men in England 
could not vote for any member of Parliament, and even some 
large cities had no representative in that body. The Americans 
however, were not accustomed to this kind of representation. 
In each colony every man who had a small amount of property 



Causes and Beginnings 2 1 3 

could vote for members of the legislature. The legislatures of 
the colonies were the only bodies in which the Americans ever 
claimed to be represented. They never even desired to send a 
representative to Parliament. When all the conditions in the 
colonies are considered, there can be no question but that the 
Americans were right when they said that they were not 
represented in Parliament. 

(b) English Support for the American 'Cause. — The 
greatest statesmen in England agreed with them, and the direct 
taxes on the Americans would have been removed, and no 
further attempts to tax them would have been made, had it not 
been for the attitude of King George. While he did not 
suggest these taxes in the first place, he thought this a good 
opportunity to destroy popular government in America. If he 
could succeed in taxing the Americans without their consent, 
he thought that he might be better able to destroy the right of 
taxation in England, and to carry out there his other ideas of 
government. At first he succeeded in deceiving most of the 
people of England, and secured a majority of Parliament; but 
the greatest statesmen in England understood his object, 
strongly opposed his policy, and defended the Americans 
throughout the Revolution. 

128. English Control of Colonial Commerce: (a) Navi- 
gation Acts. — The first attempt to overthrow English rights in 
the colonies after George became king was in 1761. The 
English government had passed trade laws known as Naviga- 
tion Acts. From IG.'iO to 1770 about twenty-five of these laws 
were passed. The object of the Navigation Acts was to give 
the people of England control of the commerce of both 
England and her colonies. One of these laws provided that 
no goods of any kind which were raised or produced in Asia, 
Africa, or the New World could be shi])]XMl into l^ngland or 
her colonics except in English ships or in ships owned by her 
colonists. Another one of these laws levied a very high tax or 
duty on all goods shipped into the colonies from any country 
except England. This law levied such a high duty that if the 
people in the colonies had obeyed it. they would have been 
compelled to buy nearly all their supplies in England except 



2 14 The American Kevolutioii 



lliosi' iniuliurd at hniiu'. The AtiuMiiMns imix^ili'd a lar>;o 
aiiiiumt of snoods t'idin \\\v WCsl Indies. This law iiu'aiil that 
all tlii'si" jLjoods must liist lir sliippi'd across tin- tuTaii to 
i\iii4laiid, oi- to somo I'liiv^lish port, and llu-u back aiToss the 
ocean aL;ain to llu- c-oloiiii-s. Thesi- and other laws i\\L;nlatiiii;" 
ci>ninieici' were passed h\ 1 'arlianieiit, at the n'cpiest oi hjis^lisli 
merchants who actc'd as lhonL;ii the tdlonies existed lor the 
])nrpose ol makim; them ricluT. As a mattiT ol lact, these laws 
did not y\ti tin- I'.n^lish meichants nuich L;ood, hecanse the 
Amcficans did not ohe\ llu'in. The\ snnijL;^Ied ^oods into tlu" 
colonies under the \ I'l \ noses ol' the re\enne olticiTS. and 
assisted the miTi-hanls ol other nations to iU^ the same ihinm'. 
While the \a\iL;ation Acts annoxed the Xnu-iicans, lluw 
admitted that rarliament had the rii^hl to re^nlate the com- 
nuTce ol the l'".mpite. I'.nt il these laws had been strictly 
cnforci'd, tlu're wonid \ery likely ha\e heen tront>lc Ioiil; hcforc 
the l\e\ dlntion. 

(h) llrils (if . Issislaiu't'.--\u ITtil tlu' l'jii;lish i^tnernnuMit 
decided to enlorce the \'a\ii^ation Ads. In order to do this 
il was neccssaix lor the ie\iMnu~ olVici-rs to enter prixate honsos 
and search lor smni^L^led _L;oods. Ihil an otVicer in order to enter 
a private honse loi" this purpose must have a warrant of some 
kind Iron) a com t or similar hod\. A re\ enne olVicer at I'oston 
applied to the ."superior (."ourt tor a i^cncral warrant, which was 
called W I it <->[ .Assistance. To issne a general warrant, which 
would permit an olVu-cr to i-nlcr an\lu»d\'s house and search il. 
\ioIated a riL;hl which. ;is has alread\' hcen stated, the Mnj^lish 
pi'ople pri.i-d \er\ hi'.;hl\. The\ were willing; that a special 
wairant, which named the house to he searched and the piods 
to he secured, mii^ht \>c issued, hut the\ were strongly opposed 
to i.^eneial wairants. James Otis went helore the .'^nperiiM" 
C'ourt at Tioston an<l ari^ucil that the Licni-ral wanant. or Writ 
of .\ssistance. should not he issued to the rexenne olliccr. 
lu\"ause to Ao so would \iolate hji^lish riL^hts and l"'.us.^lish 
liberties. Ihu as a law of rarliament L;a\e the couit the ri^lit 
lo issue these W rits i^i .\ssistance. the\ w eie issucil .Mthoui^h 
il sci'ms th.il these tjiMieral warrants were ncNcr used by the 
olVicers. tlu- Americans contended that the mere issuing of them 



Causes and Beginnings 215 

had violah'd oiu- of llirir sacri'(l ri^lils, and lliis (I'lidcd lo crcaU' 
in l!u" Cdloiiirs a strong- fct'liiit;' against llic Navii;ali<>ti Acls. 

129. Taxation Without Representation. — Tlir oUjicl of 
llic strict niforccnuMit of \hv Navii^alion Acls afti'i- I'ldO was 
to make tlic colonii's of more \aliU' lo I'.ni^lish mcrclianls and 
lo llu- l)nsincss inlcrcsls of I'.n^land. !n addition to the hcnclil 
which hjij^hsh merchants wonld receixe from the strict I'ldOrce- 
nient of these acts, rarhament, as has ah"ead\- heen slated, 
decided to ha\e tlie colonies ])a\ a i>ait ol the exjiense necessarx' 
to maintain sohhers in (,'anada and in the other terrilorv just 
secured from h'rancc. 

(a) Tlir Slaiiif^ .Id aiul Ihc Stamp .Icl ( '(>iii:;rrss. — Instead 
of asking' the colonii's to raise their share h\' taxini;" tlu'niscK'cs, 
I'arhamenl, in 17(1.'), levied a home tax in each of the thirteen 
colonii'S. This lax is known as the v*>tam|) \cM, l)ecanse it 
reijuiri'd that lei;al ])a])ers and documents mnsl he slaniped, 
and that the person who had this dont' must pa\' a certain 
amount for each papi'r stampt-cL hilTerent kinds of documents 
were stamped in (hlfereul wa\s, and the amount charj^i'd 
varieik Tliis was the hrst altt'mpt (d the hjiL;hsh L^oveiMiment 
to le\'y a home tax in the colonies. It was a <lirect violation of 
the riiL;hl of taxation, and this \iolation was of a x'crv daii^'erous 
nature, if I'arlianuMit t-onld 1e\w a tax in the colonies l"or the 
purpose of raising' moiuw to he used in America, it also had a 
rij^ht to ]e\y a tax in the colonies for the pm])osi' of raisini;' 
money to he used in l'",nL;land. The Americans saw at once, 
and saw cKarly, the v{]'vc\ of the Stamp Act on the i;reat 
principle of the riL;ht of taxation. 

'Hie news ol the passage of this act was received in Anierica 
with deep concern and indignation. TIumc at once ^ih'w u]) in 
the colonics a determination to ])i"i'\ent the v^tamp Act from 
moint;- into elTicl. The ancestors of the Americans had often 
made war (»n the kint;- to eslahlish the L^real i)rinci]ile that there 
should he no taxation without I'epri'sentation, and the Anieri- 
caiis were now pre])ariu|L;' to do the sami' tiling. 'Hie legislature 
of \^irj4inia was the (h-sl oiu' to take formal action. Patrick 
I lenry introduced resolutions in the Jlonsi' of Ihirsj^esses. which 
declared that the v^tamp Act was a \'iolation <d' hji^lish lihertv, 



2i6 The American Revolution 

and that tlie people of \^irginia were not bound to obey any 
such law. Massachusetts was the next colony to take action. 
Its legislature invited the other colonies to send delegates to 
a congress in order that the colonies might agree on some 
plan for united action against the Stamp Act. Nine colonies 
elected delegates, and the four which did not were as strongly 
in favor of united action. The delegates met in Xew York, 
and this meeting is known as the Stamp Act Congress. This 
Congress passed resolutions which declared that Americans 
possessed all the rights of Englishmen, and that Parliament 
therefore could not tax them, because they were not represented 
in that body but in the legislatures of the colonies. The Con- 
gress addressed petitions and memorials to the king and to both 
houses of Parliament, in which these rights were stated and 
courteous requests made that they be not violated. Meanwhile 
the exciteiuent among the people had become greater and 
greater. As soon as the names of those who were to have 
charge of the stamps became known, the people forced them 
to resign. Tn New York and I'oston there were riots and 
destruction of property. The Stamp Act was to go into effect 
November 1, ITlio; but when that time arrived there was not a 
stamp officer in the colonies, and therefore no one had authority 
to sell the stamps. As a result the hated Stamp Act never 
went into eft'ect. 

The strong opposition of the Americans was a great surprise 
to the English people and the English government. Parliament 
saw that the Stamp Act could not be enforced without war, 
and the merchants of London were requesting its repeal because 
it was injuring their trade with the colonies. A short time 
before the date set for the Stamp Act to go into effect, the king 
had appointed Rockingham Prime Minister. Rockingham did 
not approve of the vStamp Act. and did not care to attempt its 
enforcement l)y the use of soldiers. He therefore asked 
Parliament to repeal it. The debate on its repeal was able and 
fierce. William Pitt declared in the House of Commons that 
for Parliament to force the colonies to pay a home or internal 
tax might result in the overthrow of liberty in England, and 
that he therefore rejoiced that America had resisted it. The 



Causes and Beginnings 217 

result of the debate was the repeal of the Stamp Act. The 
repeal was hailed with great rejoicing in America. The 
legislatures passed resolutions of thanks to the king, and the 
people expressed their feelings by bonfires and celebrations. 

(b) The Declaratory Act ami the Towiishend Acts. — The 
Americans, however, had very little good reason for rejoicing. 
Parliament had not acknowledged the principle that it could 
not tax them. When the Stamp Act was repealed, another act, 
called the Declaratory Act, was passed. In this act Parliament 
stated that it had the right to legislate for the colonies on all 
questions, which meant that it claimed the right to levy taxes 
in the colonies whenever it so desired. The very next year it 
levied another series of taxes, and passed other laws which 
asserted its power and its intention to interfere with the 
internal affairs of the colonies. These taxes and acts are known 
as the Townshend Acts, because Townshend, who was the real 
leader in the House of Commons at this time, proposed them 
and secured their adoption. These new laws did not levy any 
internal taxes, as did the Stamp Act, but they levied import 
duties. They required that a duty be paid on all tea, wine, oil, 
lead, glass, paper, and painters' colors which might be brought 
into the colonies from other countries. For more than a 
hundred years England had placed a tax on various kinds of 
goods brought into the colonies, and the Americans had never 
offered any very serious objections. r»ut these taxes had 
always been levied for the purpose of enforcing the trade laws, 
or Navigation Acts, and not for the purpose of raising a 
revenue. The total amount secured from these import duties 
had not been half enough to pay the salaries of the officers who 
collected them. The new duties which were imposed by the 
Townshend Acts were created for the purpose of raising a 
revenue, and not merely for the purpose of enforcing the trade 
laws. Some of the money to be raised by these duties, or taxes,- 
was to be used for paying the salaries of the royal governors 
and highest judges of the colonies. The object of this was to 
make these officers independent of the Americans, so that they 
could better carry out the laws and desires of Parliament. The 
Townshend Acts did not stop merely with the question of 



2 1 8 The American Revolution 

taxes. TKey provided that i^encral search warrants, or Writs 
of Assistance, should be granted ; and that those who might be 
accused of violating the import tax laws could be tried and 
condemned by a court without a jury trial. When it passed the 
Townshend Acts, Parliament also passed one which suspended 
the New York legislature, because it had not provided for 
English troops which were quartered in the city of New York. 
Thus Parliament at one stroke violated the right of taxation; 
the right to be free from general warrants in time of peace; 
the right to be free from quartering troops in time of peace ; 
and the right of trial by jury. As though it were not enough 
to violate these four sacred English rights. Parliament a little 
later threatened the colonists with transportation to England 
for trial for ofifenses with which they might be charged. 

It now became evident that Parliament, under the direction 
of King George, had decided to rule the Americans without 
their consent, even if to do so required the violation of all the 
more important English rights and liberties. The legislature 
of Massachusetts sent a circular letter to the legislatures of the 
other colonies, in which it suggested unity of action in opposi- 
tion to these illegal acts of the English government. The letter 
met with a friendly response from the legislatures of tlie other 
colonies, and it directed attention to the need for unity of action. 
It had a different effect on the king and his ministers. They 
ordered the legislature of Massachusetts dissolved because it 
had sent out the letter, and ordered other legislatures dissolyed 
because they had approved of it. All these arbitrary acts 
tended to arouse the people still more. The merchants in the 
colonies refused to buy English goods, and as a result the 
commerce of England was injured to such an extent that the 
English merchants requested Parliament to repeal the import 
duties levied by the Townshend Acts. In response to this 
demand, Parliament, in 1770, repealed all these taxes except a 
small duty on tea. It retained the import tax on tea in order 
to impress on the Americans the fact that it claimed the right 
to tax them, and it is worthy of notice that this was done at 
the express command of the king. 



Causes and Beginnings 219 

(c) TJie Boston Massacre. — The other parts of the Town- 
shend Acts were not repealed. That one which provided for 
the quartering- of troops led to serious results in Boston. The 
people of Boston were opposed to having the English soldiers 
stationed in the town, and there naturally grew up an 
unfriendly feeling between the soldiers and the people. There 
were frequent quarrels. One evening, in 1770, seven soldiers 
fired into a crowd of people, killing four and wounding a 
number of others, two of whom afterwards died. It is quite 
likely that the soldiers fired without orders, and because they 
were afraid that they would be either killed or injured by the 
people who were crowding upon them. This affair, which is 
known as the Boston Massacre, created a great deal of excite- 
ment. Six citizens had been killed as the direct result of 
quartering troops in a city in violation of a sacred English 
right. In response to the demand of the town meeting the 
two regiments of soldiers were removed from the town. 

The seven soldiers who fired on the people were defended 
in court by John Adams and Josiah Ouincy, both of whom 
were citizens of Boston and strong believers in American 
rights. The soldiers were tried by an American jury, which 
declared that they were not guilty of murder, although it found 
two of them guilty of manslaughter. When all the circum- 
stances are considered, this fair and just treatment of the 
accused soldiers by the people of Boston is quite remarkable, 
and indicates plainly that the English ideas of law, justice, and 
liberty had found a safe home in America. 

(d) The Tax on Tea. — The smallness of the tax retained 
on tea, and the permission granted the East India Company to 
ship it direct to the colonies, without paying the English import 
duty, made tea cheaper in America than in England. The 
Americans were not to be induced to buy the tea, however, 
because of its cheapness. They saw that the small tax was 
retained for the express purpose of maintaining the right to tax 
them, and it was for this very reason that they were determined 
to oppose it. As the East India Company supposed that the 
Americans would gladly buy tea at the reduced price, they sent 
a large quantity to America in 1773. The ships sailed for 



220 The American Revolution 

Charleston, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. The tea was 
landed as Charleston, but none of it was ever sold or used imtil 
after the Revolution bet^an, when it was sold by the state. No 
one would receive the tea at Philadelphia and New York, so 
the ships which broui^ht it over carried it away. At IJoston the 
authorities would not permit the three ships containing: the tea 
to leave the harbor without first unloadin,c: their carc^oes, and 
if not unloaded within a certain time, the revenue officers could 
seize the tea and sell it to the hig-hest bidder. In order to 
prevent it from being landed, a party of men, disguised as 
Indians, boarded the vessels after cfark, cut open the tea chests 
and threw the tea into the sea. This is known as the Boston 




ftf^riw^--^-" 



W 



Tablet Commemorating Boston '1"ea Tarty 

Tea Partv. This unlawful destruction of the tea gave the king 
and Parliament an excuse for using force against Boston and 
Massachusetts. It would have been better, perhaps, to have 
treated the tea in some such way as it had been treated at 
Charleston. 

It seems that Sanmel Adams was responsible for the Boston 
Tea Party. He did not seem to desire that the trouble between 
the Americans and England should be settled in a peaceful 



Causes and Beginnings 221 

manner. According to Fiske, and his own statement, Adams 
began to plan to bring about the Revolution and the independ- 
ence of the colonies as far back as 17G8. But he was a shrewd, 
able man, and knew that the Americans did not desire 
separation from England at that time, but simply wished to 
maintain their rights as Englishmen. The illegal and unwise 
acts of the king and Parliament roused the people more and 
more, and when the tea ships sailed for America, Adams 
thought the time had come to commit some act that would cause 
England to use force. He believed that such action on the part 
of England would unite the colonies in open opposition. This 
was the main reason why he directed and controlled the Boston 
town meetings in such a way as to secure the unlawful 
destruction of the tea. 

130. The Repressive or Intolerable Acts. — The manner in 
which the Americans had received the tea made it plain that 
Parliament could not levy and collect a tax in the colonies 
unless it did so by force. The action of the Boston Tea Party 
made it necessary for the English government to punish Boston 
in some way, or else admit that it had no right to tax the 
colonies, or to interfere with their home affairs. Parliament, 
under Lord North as Prime Minister, determined to maintain 
its position and punish Massachusetts. In 1774 it passed a 
scries of four acts, which are known in the United States as 
the Repressive or Intolerable Acts. At the same time, Parlia- 
ment passed another act, which placed the territory north of the 
Ohio, and between the Mississippi River and the Alleghany 
Mountains, under the military government of Canada. The 
last act was not passed, because of the trouble between the 
colonies and England ; but it tended to provoke the Americans, 
because Virginia, Connecticut, and Massachusetts claimed 
some of this territory, and because a military government would 
interfere with the westward growth of the colonies. The first 
of the four acts which were passed for the punishment of 
Massachusetts is known as the Boston Port Bill. It provided 
that no ships should enter or leave the port of Boston until that 
town had paid the East India Company for the tea which had 
been destroyed at the Boston Tea Party. The second act 



22 2 The American Revolution 

amiulkd ihc charter of Massaclnisctts and really placed the 
government of that coUniy in the hands of the f;"overnor, who 
was appointed hy the kini;-. This swept away in Massachusetts 
nearly all the more important Tjiglish riL;hts and liberties. The 
third act ])rovided that an officer or soldier of the Enj^^lish 
i^overnment, when chartjed wilh a crime, should be tried 
outside of Massachusetts. This was passed, because it was 
claimed he wouUl not receive a fair trial in Massachusetts; but 
there was no good reason for believing that anv one so charged 
would not receive fair and just treatment in the courts of the 
colony. 'iMie fourth act made it legal to ([uarter troops 
anywhere in Massachusetts. 

In ]M'o\i(ling the severe punishment contained in the four 
Repressive Acts, the king and Parliament hoped to restrict the 
trouble as nmch as possible to Massachusetts, and they seemed 
really to belie\e that the other colonies would not assist her. 
The other colonies saw clearly, however, that the successful 
overthrow of popular government in Massachusetts would 
mean, sooner or later, the overthrow of their own rights and 
liberties, and they naturally conchuled that an attack on Massa- 
chusetts was an attack on all the American colonies. They 
therefore decided to assist Massachusetts, and this decision 
naturally led to unity of action. 

Beginnings of the Revolution 

131. Growth of Colonial Union. — liy far the strongest 
force in gradually bringing the colonies together and causing 
them to act in unison for their common j^rotection was the 
unwise policy of the English government. The frequent 
attempts of the king and Parliament to overthrow the most 
sacred iCnglish rights alarmed the thinking men in all the 
colonies, and forced them to unite for their own defense. The 
Stamp Act caused the colonies to send delegates to the Stamp 
Act Congress in ITtJ-"), and this taught them how to unite for 
common action. The resistance to the 'J'ownshcnd Acts tended 
still further to unite the colonies. The circular letter that the 
legislature of Massachusetts sent to the other colonies, and in 
which she suggested union of action in opposition to these Acts. 



Causes and Beginnings 223 

had a stron,^- effect in crcatini^' a sentiment of union. The 
opposition of the kins;- and ParHament to this letter only 
increased its clTect. The agreements called Non-Importation 
Agreements, which the merchants of the different colonies, 
made, and in which they agreed not to import any goods from 
England until the Townshend Acts were repealed, also taught 
union of action. 

(a) ^Utcuipts to Transport Americans for Trial. — Another 
thing which created a desire for closer relations was the 
attempt of the king and Parliament to take Americans to 
England for trial. About a hundred years before England had 
a colony, l^irliamcnt passed a law which provided for the trial 
and ])unishment in England of any English subject who had 
committed a crime outside of England. Although this law had 
been almost forgotten even in England, Parliament in 1708 
tried to apply it to the colonies in order to bring to England 
those Americans who might be accused of treason. 

In 1778 another attempt was made to put this law into effect. 
The English government had stationed a war vessel, called the 
Caspcc, in Narragansett P>ay, to enforce the Navigation Acts. 
While chasing a colonial vessel, the Gaspcc ran ashore and 
could not get back into the water at once. Now the captain of 
the Gas pee had tried to enforce the Navigation Laws strictly, 
and with a reckless disregard for the rights of innocent people. 
Pecausc of this, the merchants and the people of Providence, 
Rhode Island, disliked him and his vessel. As a result of this 
strong feeling, men from Providence boarded the Gaspee one 
night and burned it. The English government at once sent 
over a Commission of Inquiry, with orders to have those who 
assisted in the burning of the vessel arrested and brought to 
England for trial. 

While no American was ever taken to England for trial, these 
attempts to do so 'were direct attacks on the very basis of 
freedom and popular government. They were severely con- 
demned in the colonies, and were received with profound con- 
cern by the ablest Americans. The Virginians looked on these 
attempts to transport Americans to England for trial with 
special concern and suspicion. The news of the first attempt 



224 The Aiiierican Revolution 

reached \^ir_niiiia in ntiii, and it was al once strongly con- 
demned by the leadtrs of that eoloiu-. In writing" to a friend 
rej;'ar(Hnj;' tlie ellect (»!' this |)rineii)le on freedom, Washinq'ton 
said, "No man shonld ht'sitate a moment to use arms in 
defense of so vahiahle a hlessiiiL;-."' W'lien the I lonse of 
lUn^ij^esses met, it ])assed a series of [our resohitions in wiiich 
it was stated that the peo])!!.' of the (hlTerent colonies had a 
ris^lit to iniite in a petition to the kinj;' or l\arhament, and that 
to send any American to I'jiL^land for trial was "hit^hh deroga- 
tory of the rights of lirilish snhjects." The House of 
Uur^esses nniuested the legislatures of the other colonies to 
approN'c these resolutions, and as a rule the\' did so. liecause 
it had asked the other colonies to join it in this protest aj^^ainst 
the violation of I'.n^lish rights, the governor dissolved the 
House of i'ur^esses. 

(h) Colo)\\a\ C(>iiiiiii/U\-s of C'orrcsf^oiidciicc. — The leL;is- 
lature was a^ain in session when the news reached \'iriiiuia in 
177;? that those who had assisted in huruin^' the (I'dsfcc wei"C 
to ho arrested ;md taken to haiL^laud for trial. This second 
attempt of the kini; and rarliament to destroy the very basis 
of freedom causi'd the l'>m"j;esses to decide not merel\- to pass 
resolutions, hut to ha\-e all the colonies miite in the defense of 
Hnj?;lish liberties. They apiioiuled a iiernianent C'ommitti'c of 
Corres])ondence. This committee was to make a s])ecial 
investigation of the iiiisf't'i' alTair and to "maintain a corres- 
l)ondence with our sister colonies." The apjiointiu^- of this 
committee was the lirst pro\isiou which an\ of the colonies 
had UKule for a permanent body whose dut\ it was to discuss 
])lans of action with the other colcMiies, and to report on the 
i.';eueral welfai\" of all. This comun'ttee is called "Colonial 
C'onuuittee of Correspondence." Without nuich dela\' iMas- 
sachnsetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New llampshire, and 
Si>uth Car(tlina a])])ointed similar committees, and within a 
year a committee of this kind had been aj^pointed in eUch of 
the colonies. This completed the necissary arrangements for 
a colonial union. These committc-es could easily arrange for a 
meetiui;- or C(^nt;ress in which all the colonies would be rei)re- 
sented, and tbrousjli which the\- could act as one. In the 



Causes aiul Beginnings 225 

ctnirsc of the next few inontlis this was what actually hap- 
pened. 

(c) 'flic J'irsl Cuuliuciilal Conij^rcss. — When Parliament, 
in April, 1771, passed the four acts for the ])iniishment oi 
Massachusetts, it did what was necessary to cause the jj^rowth 
of union to advance from Committees of Correspondence to a 
Congress in which all the colonies wotdd he represented. As 
soon as it hecame known in America that these acts had been 
passed, tiie ])ef)])le fjf the different colonies began to ])romise 
Massachusetts their sup])ort. They considered an attack on 
Massachusetts an attack on all the colonies. Washington 
said that if necessary he woidd raise a thousand men, su])port 
them at his own expense, "and march at their head for the 
relief of 15oston." The 1 louse of llurgesses passed a resolu- 
tion declaring that June 1, the day on which the l>oston l^ort 
Hill was to go into effect, should be kept as a day of fasting 
and ])ra\er. The governor at once dissolvcfl the 1 louse of 
lUirgesses as a legislature, but it continued to meet in another 
hall and declared by resolution that "an attack on one colony 
was an attack u])on all British America." It instructed its 
Committee of Correspondence to recommend to the similar 
committees in the other colonies that a congress of delegates 
from all the colonies be held. 'J'he other colonies agreed tf) 
this ])lan, and Massachusetts was asked to name the time and 
])lace for braiding the congress. On the 17th of June, Mas- 
sachusetts a]:)pf)inted five delegates to this Congress, and 
selected the 1st of vSeptember and Pliiladelphia as the time and 
])lace of meeting. The royal gf)vernor of (Georgia succeeded 
in ])reventing that colony from selecting delegates, but all the 
other colonies were represented. 

This Congress was in sessir)n from Scptcinlicr .") to October 
2f;, 1771. It consisted of fifty-five delegates, and among them 
were the ablest men in all the colonies. Washington, Henry, 
Lee, and Kandolph came from X/irginia; vSanuicl Adams and 
John Adams from Massachusetts; Jr)hn Jay from New York; 
Judge Hopkins from Khode Island; Koger Sherman from 
Connecticut ; and K'utlcdgc from South Carolina. These men 
did nr)t meet for the purpose of doing anything that would 



226 



The American Revt)lution 



cause the colonics to separate from I'ji^laiul. With the excei)- 
tion of Samuel Adams, there was prohahly not a member of 
this Congress who desired that the colonies should become 
independent of England. They had met for the purpose of 
defending their rights. They were willing to take up arms 
and i'lght for luiglish freedom as their ancestors in England 
had many times done; but they were not willing to take up 
arms for the purpose of becoming free from England. Her 
history was their history, and they loved her and her history 
too well for that. 

The Congress drew up and 
adopted a statement or de- 
claration of the rights of the 
colonies. This statement claim- 
ed merely that Americans 
(Englishmen in America) 
were entitletl to enjoy the same 
rights as Ejiglishmen in Eng- 
land, rarliament was asked 
to repeal all laws which inter- 
fered with these rights. This 
Congress also prepared and 
sent addresses to the king and 
to the people of England and 
Ihitish America. In order 
better to prevent the importa- 
tion or use of hjiglish goods 
in the colonies, the Congress 
recommended that each county 
or town should appoint a committee whose duty it should be to 
disctnuage the use of I'jiglish go<~>ds, and to pulilish the names 
of all those who used them. The local committees of each 
colony were to report to the Colonial Committee of Corres- 
pondence o{ that colony. Samuel Adams. ver\- likely, recom- 
mended this local committee system, for he had established it in 
Massachusetts four or five months before \'irginia had ap- 
pointed the first Colonial Committee of Correspondence. After 
completing this work and providing for the meeting of another 




S.VMUEI. .\l).\MS 



Causes and Beginnings 



227 



Congress on the loth of May[ 1775, the h'irst CoiUinental 
Congress adjourned. The ])ea(teful attitude of the nienihers 
of this First Congress is incheated plainly by the faet that the 
Second Congress was not to meet if Parliament, before that 
time, should decide to respect the rights of the colonies, and 
repeal those i\cts which tended to overthrow these rights. 
lUil stirring events were to hapi)en before the meeting of the 
Second Congress. ( 



MAP U1-' 
BOSTON AND VICINITY 



)/ 







,. ■{ 



' 1; r ". 1' r'^ H'^ights ypJ^ " 







132. Lexington and Concord: fa) Uirnls Leading to 
this Baltic. — As h.as already l)een slated, oik- of the Acts for 
the ])unishnient of Massachnsetts anmdicd her charter and 
practically placed the government in the hands of the royal 
gf)vernor. ("ieneral Gage was a])pointed military governor 
imder this new law. and he reached lioston in May, 1771, with 
additional soldiers. In accor<;lance with the I'oston Port Hill, no 
vessels were permitted to enter or leave Boston harbor. This 
caused considerable sniTering among the poor people of the 
city. In order to be safe from any attack Gage fortified 



2 28 The American Revolution 

Boston Neck, which was the only ai)proach to the city. iUit 
althonj^h Ga^e occupied Boston, he could not enforce the new 
jT^overnnient. The people of Massachusetts maintained that 
Parliament had no U\i;al power to annul the charier of the 
colony, and that therefore thi.^ s^overnment under Gai^e was 
illeo-ai. 

'I'he re])resentatives of the people met and appointed a 
receiver s^eneral, and tlu> i)ul)lic taxes were paid to him instead 
of to the treasurer ap])ointed hv t^iai;e. A Committee <d' Safety 
was appointed, which, with the assistance of the local town 
committees, carried on the t;-overnment of the colony. In all 
parts of IMassachusi'tts men he^'an to drill and to collect 
powder, i^'uns, and other nn'lilar\- stores. Some of the men 
in each town and xilla^e were to he ready to leave home and 
to bci^in fi^htiuL!; at any minute, and they were therefore called 
minutemen. t'la^e knew all ahout these preparations, hut he 
could not ])revent them, and the people i^ave him no excuse for 
hes^inninj^- war. v^anniel Adams and the other New England 
leaders beliexed that in order to he siu'c of the assistance of the 
other colonies, the British nnist fire the first shot. While the 
people of Massachusetts were determined to defend their rights, 
they (piielly suhmilted to the military occupation oi I'oston fcM" 
almost a year, in order to secure united action by all the colonies 
when the conllict should begin. Sanuiel Adams deserves 
nuich of the credit for this. He was a shrewd and able poli- 
tician, and for mt^-e than five years had been doing his best to 
get h'ngland and the colonies into w\ar. P)Ut he was doing this 
because lu' thought it was best for the colonies to become an 
independent nation, lie was among the very few Americans 
who. before 1T7'). desired to see the colonies become free from 
I'jigland. lie used some of the methods of the politician. l)tit 
his actions were dictated by high motives of patriotism antl love 
of country. Gage was no match for him. 

While the ])eople of Massachusetts wrrc preparing for war, 
Adams, Hancock, Warren, and the other leaders of the colony 
were determined that hjigland should actually begin it. In 
April, ITTT), almost ouc year after Giage arrived in P.ostcMi, they 
\ver(^ at last successful, (u'lge knew that the Americans had 



Causes and Beginnings 



229 



been colleclins" po^\(ler and other \,vav snpplies at llie town of 
Concord, which was about twenty rniles from lioston. Ife also 
knew that Adams and ]Iancf)ck were stopping- at Jvexinmton 
for a few days, and that they were then .^oin^- on to Philadelphia 
to attend the meetins;' of the Sec<jnd Continental Congress. Some 
time before Oag'e had received strict orders to arrest both 
Adams and Hancock, and to send them to England for trial. 
Lexington is between Uoston and Concord, so Gage sent out 
eight hundred soldiers with orders to capture Adams and Han- 
cock, and then to push on to Concon:! and destroy the military 
stores which had been collected thu^re. 




Battle of Lexington^ 



(b) The Dot lie and Some of its Rrsults. — In order that 
the Americans might not learn of these plans, the eight hundred 
ilritish regulars left P>oston very quietly about ten o'clock on 
the evening of April 18. But every movement of the British 
in P>oston was being watched so closely that these soldiers 
had scarcely begun their march when ma sengers began riding 
out into the country and rousing the people from their sleep 
with the news. Paul Revere was one of these messengers, 
whose ride Longfellow has described in a well-known ])oem. 
Revere reached Lexington about midnight, after having 
aroused the people along the road over which he came. By 
this time messengers were riding over Hie country in every 



^30 The American Revolution 

direction. Revere rode up to the home in which v^ainuel 
Adams and llancock were slee])ini;-, and told tliem that the 
regulars were comint;'. lie then rode on to Concord, spreading- 
the news on the way. Some of the men whom he had aroused 
from sleep mounted their horses and hel])ed to carry the news 
throughout the countr\-. The British reached Lexington just 
as the sun was coming up. Some fifty minutemen had already 
gathered to oi:)pose them. They refused to disperse when the 
I'ritish officer ordered them to do so. He then ordered his 
soldiers to fire on the Americans. It is not known positively 
whether the I'ritish or the Americans fired the first shot, hut as 
a result of the firing some fifteen or twenty men were either 
killed or wounded. The minutemen withdrew, and the British, 
after sending a messenger back to Gage for more men, marched 
on to Concord. Little did they think that they had just begun 
a war that would result in the indejicndcnce of the colonies. 
Adams and llancock, who had just left Lexington a short 
time before, were walking across the fields on their way to the 
Second Continental Congress. "As the crackle of distant 
nuisketry reached their cars, the eager Adams, his soul aglow 
with the prophecy of the coming deliverance of his country, 
exclaimed, 'Oh, what a glorious morning is this!'" 

When the I'ritish reached Concord, their commander placed 
about two hundred of them to guard the bridge which spanned 
the Concord River thalt flows just beyond the town. The re- 
maining six hundred ^i the British were unable to find many 
guns or much other war material, because most of the military 
stores bad been either removed or hidden. While the soldiers 
were looking for thesei stores, the number of minutemen beyond 
the river became larger and larger. They soon advanced to 
the bridge, charged across it, and drove the two hundred 
regulars back into the village, but their number was still too 
small to enable them to attack the main body of the English. 

About noon the British began their march back to Boston. 
The Americans, whose number had been growing larger all 
the time, began at onice to attack them from all sides. By the 
time Lexington was reached the regulars were thrown into 
confusion l)v the constant and deadlv fire of the Americans. 



Causes and Beginnings 231 

The only thing that saved them from capture was the arrival 
of twelve hundred more soldiers, for whom the iCn^lish com- 
mander had sent back to Boston in the morning". After rest- 
ing awhile the British contimied their retreat. The Americans 
at once renewed the attack from all sides, and the regulars 
reached Charlestown and the protection of their ships none 
too soon. Had the retreat required an hour or so longer, the 
entire British force would, very likely, have been captured by 
the Americans. As it was, the English had lost about three 
hundred in killed and wounded, and the Americans about one 
hundred. The most remarkable thing about the fighting on 
this historic nineteenth day of April was the quickness with 
which the Americans gathered for the attack. It showed how 
well the town meetings had done their work in preparing the 
people for prompt and effective action. 

The minutemen continued to flock to Boston, and within 
a few days Gage found himself besieged in that city by an 
army of sixteen thousand Americans. A large number of these 
men had been in the French and Indian War, and it was there- 
fore only about sixteen years since they had seen actual 
fighting. Thus the first battle of the Revolution ended in the 
immediate siege of Boston by an American army composed 
largely of veterans. The news of these events resulted, also, 
in the capture of the strong fortress of Ticonderoga. The 
Americans captured this fortress and the small fort of Crown 
Point on the 10th of May. The capture of these two forts 
gave the Americans control of the main gateway between 
Canada and the Hudson River; and what was of more im- 
portance still, it gave them about two hundred cannon and a 
large supply of ammunition. Some of these cannon and other 
military sui)plies were brought to the American army at Boston, 
which was badly in need of them. 

133. The Second Continental Congress. — On May 10, 
1775, the same day on which Ticonderoga and Crown Point 
were captured, the Second Continental Congress met at Phila- 
delphia. As in the case of the First Congress, each colony 
had sent its ablest men. Although the Eiiglish and Americans 
were actually fighting, there were less than half a dozen men 



232 



The American Revolution 



in this Congress when it ilrst met wlio advocated or even 
desired that the colonies shonld lieconie independent. Nearly 
all the ir.enibers of this Congress wished to eontinue the nnion 
between the eolnnii's and lMi,<;land, hnt all ot" them were 
detenniiu'd to maintain their rij^hts as i^nglishnten. The Con- 
gress ailopted the army aroimd I'oston as the army of the 
colonies, and called it the Continental Army. Washington was 
chosen commander in chief of this army. On Jnly (>, Con- 
gress passed a resolntion in which it stated why the colonies 
had taken np arms, and on Jidy S it adopted another petition 




EaTTI-K of BlNKF.R lIlLL 



to the king. In both the resolution and petition. Congress 
stated that the Americans did not wish to become free from 
iMigland. but merely wished to maintain their rights, and 
that they would gladly stop fighting if rarliament wonld repeal 
those laws which it had passed that tended to destroy in 
America the aucieut liberties (tf England. 

134. The Battle of Bunker Hill. — Toward the latter part of 
May, Generals Howe, 'Clinton, and lUn-goyne arrived at Boston 
with more English rcgnlar trt^ips. These new soldiers gave 



\ 



CausCvS and Beginnings 233 

General Gage an army f>f about trn thousand men, and lie now 
prepared to occu])y the hills around lioston so as to ])revent 
the Americans from fortifyint^ iheni and bomhardinij;' his 
troops with cannon, 'i'he Americans learned that he intended 
to fortify limiker llill and breed's ilill, which are just back 
of Charlestown. Charlestown and IxAh of these hills are 
situated on a narrow ])eninsula which is separated from I'oston 
by a narrow arm of the waters of I'.oston harbor. In order to 
])revent (ia^q^e from fortifyint^ either of these hills, about twelve 
hundred of the American soldiers advanced f)n the nii^ht of 
June in, for the ])m-])ose of fortifyiuj^" lUmker llilk ThroUiL;'!! 
'some mistake, or because of the darkness,, they passed on and 
bcjc^an to di.c^ trenches and to construct breastworks on Breed's 
llill, which is nearer Charlestown. The llritish were very 
much surprised next morninii^ at the si<:i^ht of these works, and 
decided at once to drive the Americans away from this im- 
])ortant ])osition. 'j'hc Uritish could easily have occupie(l the 
narrow strip of land that connects the mainland with the 
])eninsula. This would, very likely, have resulted in the 
capture of the entire; American force. Instead of doin^' so, 
the British decided to march up Breed's llill and drive the 
Americans from their works by a direct attack in front. About 
three thousand ret^nlars were brought over from Boston in 
boats, and 'by three o'clock they bci^-an to advance up the hill 
ff)r an assault on the American lines. The Americans behind 
their breastworks did not shoot until the bjii^dish were within 
fifty steps, when they fired with deliberate aim. Nearly all the 
men in the front ranks of the British lines were killed or 
wounded. The I'^nglish returned the fire, but were sr)r)n forced 
to retreat down the hill in some disorder. They advanced to 
the attack tlie second time. This time the Americans with- 
held their fire until the British were within about thirty steps, 
when they delivered such deadly volleys that the front ranks of 
the regulars were cut to pieces, and they were forced again to 
retreat down the hill. With true Knglish ])hick, Gicneral Hfjwe 
ordered the third attack, aufl for the tliird time the brave 
regulars marched to the assault on the American lines. This 
time the American fire was weak, because their pmvder had 

18 



234 "The American Revolution 

given out. They were slowly driven from their works and 
forced to retreat back over Charlestown Neck. They retreated, 
however, in good order and fought with stones and their gun 
stocks. More than one thousand of the Knglish were either 
killed or wounded. The American loss was about four hun- 
dred and fifty. 

The result of the liritish advance on Lexington and Concord 
a little less than two months before had encouraged the Ameri- 
cans and discouraged the English. Though the Americans 
were defeated at Breed's Hill, this battle, called the battle of 
Bunker Hill, still further encouraged the Americans and dis- 
couraged the English. The English now kncAv that the Ameri- 
cans would fight, and that the subjugation of the colonies meant 
a long and bloody war. The Americans had learned that they 
were a match for the English regulars, and this was of great 
value, because it gave them confidence. Washington was on 
his way to Boston to take command of the army when the news 
reached him. After being told how the Americans had fought 
at the battle of Bunker Hill, he was very nnich pleased and 
declared that the liberties of the people were safe. 

135. The Siege and Capture of Boston. — General Wash- 
ington arrived at Boston on July 2, and on the following day 
he assumed command of the patriot army. He found it not 
well organized, and without much discipline. There was a 
great scarcity of powder, and an almost total lack of siege guns. 
Washington, patiently and wisely, devoted the time between 
July 3, 1775, and March 4, 177(), to a careful organization of 
his army and to the collection of the necessary military supplies. 
Siege guns were brought over the snow on sleds from the 
fortress of Ticondcroga, and powder was secured from every 
possible source. The soldiers were drilled and a regular 
system for supplying them with food, clothes, and other sup- 
plies was established. Many people did not see the value of 
this work, and they began to criticise Washington for not 
"doing something." But on this occasion, as on many others, 
his strong character and good judgment enabled him to say 
nothing in reply, and to go straight ahead. He knew that to 
risk a battle before his army was prepared to fight, might mean 



Causes and Beginnings 235 

defeat, and that a defeat at that time would greatly discourage 
the Americans. He drew his lines closely around Boston, but 
did nothing to provoke a general attack until he was fully pre- 
pared. By March 4, he felt that the American army was 
ready to force the English out of Boston, and to fight a general 
battle if necessary. On the evening of that day, the Americans 
began a heavy cannon fire on the English lines. The British 
returned the fire with vigor throughout tlie night. While the 
British had their attention thus attracted, Washington sent two 
thousand of his soldiers forward to occupy and fortify Dor- 
chester Heights. These Heights were close to lioston, and 
cannon placed on them could destroy the English army in 
Boston and the English ships in Boston harbor. The two 
thousand Americans on Dorchester Heights worked hard all 
night, building breastworks and placing the siege guns in 
position. 

When morning came, and General Howe, who had succeeded- 
General Gage in command, saw the cannon and the fortifica- 
tions on Dorchester Heights, he knew that the Americans had 
been cannonading his lines all night for the purpose of deceiv- 
ing him. He also knew that he must either drive the Ameri- 
cans from their new jiosition or leave Boston. The battle of 
lUmker Hill had had its efifect, and although Howe at first 
decided to try an assault on the new American position on 
Dorchester Heights, he finally concluded to leave Boston 
rather than to risk an attack on the American lines. Howe 
told the people of Boston that he was going to leave, but that 
if his troops were fired on, he would burn the city. In order 
to save the town, Washington permitted the English to leave 
without further fighting. On the 17th of March they sailed 
away for Halifax and took with them about one thousand 
Americans who were in sympathy with England. By the 
capture of Boston, Washington secured some two hundred 
cannon, a large supply of powder, and a great quantity of other 
valuable military stores. 

136. The Declaration of Independence: (a) Early Scn- 
t'uncnt. — The entrance of Washington and the Continental 
Army into Boston brought to an end the first period of the 



236 The American Revolution 

Revolution. Up to abcnit that time the great mass of the Ameri- 
can people, and most of their ablest leaders, did not desire to 
separate from England. They were fighting for the rights of 
Englishmen, but they wished to remain a part of the I'.ritish 
Empire. There is ample evidence to show that this was the 
real desire of the Americans at this time. Reference has 
already been made to the resolutions which were passed by 
Congress on July (>, 1775, and to the petition to the king which 
was passed two days later. Although this petition and these 
resolutions were adopted almost a month after the battle of 
Bunker Hill, Congress stated specifically that the Americans 
did not wish to become free from England. In the resolutions 
which stated the causes for taking up arms, Congress said : 
"Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our friends 
and fellow-subjects in any jiart of the emi)irc, we assure them 
that we mean not to dissolve that miion wliicli has so long and 
so happily subsisted between us, and which we sincerely wish 
to see restored. We have not raised armies with ambitious 
designs of separating from Great I'ritain, and establishing 
independent states." In the ])etition to the king. Congress, 
speaking for the American people, said that if the danger to 
their rights were removed, "your Majesty will find your 
faithful subjects on this continent ready and willing at all 
times, as they have ever been, with their lives and fortunes, to 
assert and maintain the rights and interests of your Majesty, 
and of our mother country." More than six months after he 
had taken command of the American army at Boston, Washing- 
ton said in a letter to a friend, "When I took command of the 
army, I abhorred the idea of independence; now. I am 
convinced, nothing else will serve us." These expressions of 
Congress and of Washington represented the desires antl 
wishes of the American people in July, 177."). 

(b) Change in Sentiment Coiiccrniui;; Independence: 
Reasons for CJwnge. — In one year from that time, however, a 
great change had taken place, and Congress, representing the 
changed desires and wishes of the people, declared the 
independence of the colonies. This indicated an immense 
change in public sentiment in a very short time, and on a very 



Causes and Beginnings 



237 



important question. But there were ample reasons for this 
chan.i^c. The king would not even receive the petition which 
Congress had adopted on July 8, 1775. Instead of considering 
it, he issued a proclamation on August 23, in which he declared 
that the Americans were in rebellion, and that it was the duty 
of all his subjects to assist in putting down such rebellion. 
When this news reached America, many people began to think 
that it might be necessary for the colonies to declaix' their 




King George III 



independence of England. Another thing that tended toward 
inde]ienxlence was the establishment of new government in the 
colonies. During the year 1775 nearly all the royal governors 
had been forced to leave the colonies. As this left many of the 
colonics without any legal or regular government, Congress 
recommended that the people of those colonies establish such 
form of government as thev might think best. Those colonies 



238 



The American Revolution 



wliicli had no cIiaikTs aiicd upon this advice. Ahhoui^h lach 
of thi'sc now ^ovcrnnK'nts that wvvv or_<;ani/.cd hclorc May, 
177<;, ackno\vlod,L;t'd, in soinc way, ils connection with Circat 
Ih'itain. llic \cr\ fad that these practically independent 
p)vernnicnts existed, tended to create a feelinj^ of independence. 
The fact that a Congress existed, which represented all the 
colonies, also tended stronp^ly to develop this feeling-. In 
January. 17T(), 'I'honias Paine issuetl a pani]:)hlet called 
"Coninion v^ense." in which he called attention to all these 
things, and ad\«>cated the independence of the colonies. This 
pain]-)hlet had a strong iniluence in causing the people to 
desire inde])endence, but a large number of the Americans still 
desired that the colonies should remain a i)art of the r>ritish 
bjnpire. 

About this time. howe\er. King (icorge did something that 
tm'ned the tide in the colonies in favor of inde])endence. It 
soon became plain thai the Isnglish people were not very 
anxious to join the arm\ for the purpose of fighting their 
Anierican brethren. The king and his minister saw that it was 
necessary either to compel men to join the army or to secure 
soldiers in some other way. As the ablest men in b'ngland 
were stronglv in fa\'or of the Americans in their struggle to 
maintain Knglish rights, it would not have been safe for the 
king to have attempted to force men into the army. It was 
thevi'fore necessar\ foi" him to secure soldiers by some other 
means, lie asked Russia to hire him twenty thousand men, but 
Catherine, the b'mpress of Russia, refused, lie then ai^plied 
to several of the ( K-rman states, and succeeded in hiring twenty 
thousand good soldiers and foiu" g\)od generals, 'llie bl.ime 
for this rests justly on the Cerman jirinces, who hired the men 
to the king i"or the ])uri)ose of making money. The soldiers did 
not wish to light the Americans, and the mass of the Clerman 
peopK' wert' st rough opposed to it. The great Frederick, king 
of I'rnssia. fi'll huniili.ited and t'xpressed di'ep regret. On 
every one of these soldiers who passed through Prussia ho 
ordered his cust(tmhouse (M'ficers to cc^llect a toll, as though they 
were "cattle (.'xjiorteil for foreign shambU'S." The ablest men 
in Parliament ciMulemned severely this hiring of foreign troops 




•r.i\) 



240 The American Revolution 

to help subjugate the Americans. W'hen the news reached 
America, it caused the great mass of the people to decide at 
once in favor of independence. They lost what respect and 
affection they still had for the kin_g, and from that time he was 
bitterly denounced by most of the Americans. 

(c) Rcsoluiion for Jiicicpciidciicc .Iciof^tcd. — Things moved 
rapidly now toward a declaration of independence. On May 
11, 1T7(). the legislature of Virginia, by unanimous vote, 
instructed its delegates in Congress to propose a resolution 
declaring "the United Colonies free and independent States." 
On June 7 Richard Henry Lee, chairman of the Virginia 
delegates in Congress, introduced a resolution for the purpose 
of carrying out these instructions. The debate which followed 
indicates plainly that a majority of the delegates in Congress 
were not ready to declare for independence, and a vote on Lee's 
resolution was postponed until July 1. Meanwhile the action 
of Virginia, the largest of the colonies, and the determined 
attitude of Massachusetts were having profound efifect on the 
other colonies. One by one they instructed their delegates in 
Congress to vote for independence. By the 28th of June all 
the thirteen colonies except New York had so instructed their 
delegates, and in a few days that colony also declared for inde- 
pendence. On July 1 Congress again took up Lee's resolution. 
It was al)ly debated on both sides and the next dav adopted. 
( ^n July 4 the formal Declaration of Independence was passed, 
but it was not signed by the luemliers of Congress luitil 
August ■?. The news that Congress had fniallx' declared for 
independence s])read rapidly throughout the country, and was 
hailed witli delight b\' most of the people. Thus the war 
Jiecame a war for independence, and not merel}- a war for the 
l^rotection of I'.nglish rights in America. 

137. Conditions Affecting the War: (a) Resources of 
Hii!:;}aiiil and America. — Neither England nor America was 
well prepared for the war that was to result in the birth of the 
L^iited States and in the loss to England of the best part of her 
Empire. In some things England had the advantage, and in 
other things America had the advantage. The population of 
England was about ten millions, while that of the United 



Causes and Beginnings 241 

States was only about three millions. England's wealth and 
her supply of war material were many times greater than those 
of America. There was very little gold or silver money in the 
United States during the Revolution, and Congress could not 
secure enough to pay the soldiers and purchase the necessary 
military and other supplies for the army. Cannon, guns, and 
other military supplies had not been manufactured in the 
colonies, and for their supply the Americans were compelled to 
rely on what they could secure from France and capture from 
the English. This lack of money and military supplies was a 
constant worry to Washington and often seriously interfered 
with his plans. 

(b) Opposition in England to the War. — In neither Eng- 
land nor America were the people united in support of the war, 
but this was a more serious injury to the English than to the 
Americans. During the first part of the war most of the 
English people approved of the policy of the king and the 
majority of Parliament, but before the conflict ended a majority 
of them became opposed to the war. This change of feeling was 
brought about by the loss of English trade with America, and 
by the fact that the great mass of the English people began to 
understand that the Americans were fighting for English 
rights. From the very first there was a number of men in 
both houses of Parliament who strongly denounced the war. 
Among these men were the ablest statesmen of England, 
including Pitt, Burke, and Fox. These and others ably 
defended the Americans in the debates of both houses, declaring 
that America was fighting for the great principles of English 
liberty, and that her defeat would be a serious blow to these 
principles in England itself. In the debate in the House of 
Lords on the P)OSton Port I'ill, and the proposal to send troops 
to Boston, the Duke of Richmond said, "I wish from the bottom 
of my heart that the Americans may resist, and get the better 
of the troops sent against them." These men rejoiced openly 
in American victories. Even General Burgoyne, after his 
surrender at Saratoga and while a paroled prisoner, ably 
defended the cause of the Americans in Parliament. Such 
strong and open defense of the Americans by the greatest men 



242 The American Revolution 

in England caused more and more of the English people to 
oppose the war, and was of great injury to the king and his 
ministers. 

(c) .liiicricaii Of^positioii to Rcvohifioii. — ( )n the other 
hand, many of the Americans were opposed to the Revolution. 
All those Americans who openly sympathized with the English 
during the war were called Tories, because the Tory party in 
Fjigland had control of Parliament and had helped the king to 
bring about the war. Some of these Tories, or loyalists, raised 
regiments, joined the English armies, and fought against their 
fellow-Americans. They assisted the English in many ways, 
and the feeling against them was bitter. 

(d) Weak National Goi'cnuncnt in iJic United States. — 
The weak national government in the I'nited States during the 
Revolution injured the American cause a great deal more than 
did the opposition of the Tories. Congress did not have the 
power necessary to raise soldiers and conduct the war with 
vigor. Neither did it have the power to levy taxes for the 
support of an army. Congress could ask the states to furnish 
money and soldiers, hut it did not have the power to compel the 
states to carry out these requests. The states, as a rule, were 
not verv prompt or energetic in furnishing sup])lies or soldiers, 
unless they were actually invaded by an English army. If 
Congress had had the power and the full support of the people, 
it could have raised a splendid army of at least one hundred 
thousand men, and furnished it with ample su]iplies for 
carrying (Mi an energetic campaign. With such an army 
Washington C(niUl ha\'e driven the I'.nglish from every state and 
quickly ended the war. The weak condition of Congress, and 
the lack of a cordial and well-directed support by the states, 
made the work of Washington and his army very dii^cult. If 
the Americans had not been so far from h'ngland. and had not 
received help from France, the war would have lasted nuich 
longer than it did, and might have ended without resultmg in 
the indejiendence of the I'nited States. 

( e) 11 fleet of Wnious Conditions on Progress of JTar. — As 
the war dragged along, the English people were becoming more 
and more opposed to it, and the king and Parliament were 



Campaigns 243 

forced to tell tlu- AiiK'ricaiis that all llieir funinT (kMnands 
rci^ardinj::;- their rights wcniid l)e i^ranted. The terms offered 
were hberal, and they would have g'iven the Americans almost 
as free a government as that now enjoyed by Canada. If ihe 
Americans had thought the result of the war more doubtful, 
they would, very likely, have accepted this offer, for a large 
number of them were not, even at that time, very anxious for 
independence. lUit the assistance of France, together with the 
weak manner in which Juigland was compelled to conduct the 
war on account of her distance from America, the almost total 
lack of good generals among the English commanders, and the 
opposition of a large number of her people at home, convinced 
the Americans that thev could soon bring the conHict to an end 
and secure their complete independence. 

CAMPAIGNS 

138. Nature and Object of the Three Campaigns Planned 
by the British. — After the iCnglish under C.agc sailed away 
from I'oston on March 17, 177(), they made no further attempt 
during the war to invade and subdue New England. Neither 
did they make any serious attem])t during the war to invade 
and subdue Virginia. Virginia and New England each con- 
tained about seven lunKh^ed thousand ])eople, which made their 
combined population about e(|ual to that of all the other states. 
The peo])lc of Virginia and New hjigland were united and 
aggressive in their ()i)position to England. The battles of 
Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Ilill, and the siege of lioston, 
had taught the Hritish that an invasion of New England meant 
the stout and active resistance of almost every man. They 
knew that the people of Virginia were just as united and 
determined as those of New England, and that an invasion of 
that state, the home of Washington, would meet with the same 
strong resistance. 

'i'he British decided, therefore, to leave New England and 
Virginia, with their large and hostile population, alone, and to 
try to subdue the other states which contained fewer people and 
in which they hoped to find many people friendly to them. 



244 "The American Revolution 

They thought that if iIk-v could i^ct control of most of the 
other states. X'ir^iiiia and New I'jii^iand would he compelled to 
snhmit. After the capture of IJoston hv Washington, the kinj^ 
and his ministers and generals, thercfmx', ])lanned three i^eneral 
campait^iis, — two aj^ainst the middle states and one ai^ainst the 
far southern states. The ohject of one of the campaigns against 
the middle states was to capture New ^'ork City, and to secure 
control of the Hudson River and of as much of the state of 
New York as possihl.\ The success of this campaisj^n would 
have heen of i^rerit value to the I'.ritish, hecause it would have 
j^ivcn them control of a direct line of communication hetween 
New York City and Canada; and as the lui^lish had control of 
the sea, this would have completely separated New i''n<;land 
from all the other states. The ohject of the other campaign 
at::aitist the mi<ldle states was to cai)ture Philadelphia, which 
was at that time the larj^est cit\' in America, and to secure 
control of as nuich of Pennsylvania and Xew jersey as possihle. 
P)y the southern cam])ai,i;-n the i*.ritish hoped to capture the 
cities of Charleston and Savannah, and to secure control of 
Geori;ia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. 

Campaigns Against the Middle States 

139. Capture of New York City. — After the capture of 
IJoston, Washiui^ton thoui^ht the Pritish would next attack 
New ^'ork Citv; so in April he marched to that city and 
pre])are(l to defend it with a force o\ ahout eii;hteen thousand 
men. Nine thousand of these men he ])laced on Lons^: Island. 
some in Xew \'ork City, some at k'ort Pee above the city on the 
west hank (»f the liudson Kiver. and some at Fort Wa.shini;ton 
on the east side of the rix'er just across trom hort Pee. 

In |ul\ Admiral ilowe arri\ed in Xew \ov\< P.ay in com- 
mand of a strong- l-'n^lisli lleet, on hoanl o\ which was an 
army of twentv-the thousand men under his brother, Ceneral 
Howe. The P>ritish army landed on Staten Island and went 
into camp. General Howe was friendly to the Americans, and 
wished to brins:^ the war to an end without further fifj^htin.s:. 
Rut Congress had just passed the Declaration of Independence, 
and General Howe did not have the authoritv to concede the 




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Campaigns in the Middle Colonies 



246 The American Revolution 

rights which the Americans had demanded before the war 
began ; so his efforts in behalf of peace ended in faihire. 

Ibnvo then moved his army to Long Island, defeated the 
AiiKTicans. and captured a thousand ])risoners. He then 
jircparcd to besiege the entire American army on that island, 
which was strongly intrenched on r.rooklyn Heights. With his 
large army and the assistance of the I'jiglish licet he could 
have soon ca])tur(."d the /Xmericans on these lleights if he could 
have succeeded in surroimding (hem. This woidd have been a 
very serious disasler to \hv Anu'ricans, because more than one- 
half of their armv was within tlie fortifications on Ilrooklyn 
lleights. Washington at once decided lo bring this division of 
his army across to New York ; but this was a dangerous thing 
to do, because there was a strong l^nglish fleet in the harbor, 
and a strong iMiglish army reach' to attack at any time. Wash- 
ington, therefore, (|uietly collected on the New York side of 
East River every boat and barge he could secure and waited till 
evening. 'iMie night was dark and foggy, and the entire army 
was moved across the river to New York City without the 
movement being detected by the British. Howe then advanced 
upon New "S'ork and drove W^ashington up the Hudson River 
to White riains on the east side of that river. Several small 
battles were fought, but neither side lost many men. Howe 
then marched down the river and encanijXHl near Fort 
Washington, where he could either attack that fort or cross 
the Hudson into New Jersey and march on Philadelphia. In 
order to meet any move which Howe might make, Washington 
left seven thousand men just across frc^n W'hite Plains, under 
Lee, and sent five thousand under Putnam across the Hudson 
into New Jersey. He left three thousand at Fort Washington 
and a small nnniht'r at Fort Lee. 

140, Washington's Retreat and His Capture of Trenton: 
(a) Siliiatioii of .linrricait .Iriiiy. — The capture of New "S'ork 
City was of great importance to the I British. In additi(ni to the 
value of its harbor to the JMiglisb navy, the city was centrally 
located and w'as used bv the P)ritish during the war as the main 
basis of opiTation for their southern campaign, as well as for 
their two northern campaigns. The figliting that resulted in 



Campaigns 



247 



the capture of New York did not, however, result in much 
injury to the American army. Although more than two 
months had now passed since the hattle of Lonp;' Island, and 
the Americans had hcen forced to retreat ii]) tlic lindson, 
Washini;ton had almost as lar^e an army as when the li^htinL;- 
l)e,u,an. lie was just ahout as well ])repared to meet the T.ritish 
in l)att]e as ever hcforc. hut all ihis was soon lo he changed, and 
through no fault of his. Jlc decided to ahandon hotli h'ort 




WaSIIINCTON's kr.TKEAT FROM LoNG ISLANO 

Washinj:jton and l-'ort T.cc rather than risk the capture of his 
soldiers in tliciii. lie therefore ordered (irccne to hrin^- all the 
soldiers and supplies away from both these forts if the British 
should threaten to attack them. He also ordered Lee to be 
ready to march with the seven thousand soldiers under his 
command at a moment's notice. Washinj^ton then went up 
the Hudson River to see about buildiuf)^ a fort at West Point. 

(b) Loss of I'ort hcc; Character of General Lee. — While 
he was away Cong-ress ordered Greene to hold Fort Wash- 
ington, and just as Washington returned Howe captured the 



248 



The American Revolution 



fort with its three thousand sokhcrs. This was a serious 
disaster for the Americans, and was caused by the nieddhnj^ of 
Conoress. Wasliington, w'lio was across the river at Fort Lee, 
from which jxiint he watched the ca])ture and surrender of the 
fort, had but six thousand men on tlie New Jersey side of the 
river. He at once ordered Lee, who was still near White 
Plains, to cross the Hudson with his seven thousand s(^ldiers 
and join him. Lee w^as not an American, althou,i2;h he had come 
to America, some time before the war bci^an. He had served 
in the English army and had succeeded in convincing Congress 
that he was a great general. As a matter of fact, he was a 
worthless general, and a still more worthless man with a most 
detestable character. He cared nothing iov the American cause, 
and wished simply to secure some glory for himself. He 
wished to secure Washington's position as commander in chief. 
Although Washington had given him strict orders to join him 
at once, Lee gave some excuse for not obeying and kept his 
seven thousand men near White Plains. He hoped that 
Washington and his six thousand men might l)e defeated or 
captured, and that this might result in his own promotion. 

(c) Retreat .Icross Nciv Jersey. — General Howe soon saw 
the weak position of Washington and sent Cornwallis across 
the river with a strong army. Washington was forced to make 
a hasty retreat across New Jersey, and when he reached 
Trenton and crossed the Delaware into Pennsylvania, he had 
less than three thousand men. This was the darkest period of 
the war. The people everywhere were becoming discouraged. 
It was now that the great character and ability of Washington 
became jilainer than ever. IMost men in his position would have 
felt like giving up the struggle. He, however, decided to win 
a victory that would encourage his countrymen to hght on. He 
soon received re-enforcements from Lee's army, but they were 
not brought by Lee. That general had at last crossed the 
Hudson and was slowly marching south through New Jersey 
with an army of about four thousand men. He was writing 
letters in which he condemned Washington, and evitlently 
thought that he would soon have his position. One night, while 
stopping at a house a short distance from his army, some 



Campaigns 249 

r.ritish soldiers captured him. They could not have done a 
better thing for the Americans, for Sullivan, who was next in 
command, marched at once to the assistance of Washington. 

(d) Capture of Trenton. — Washington now had an army 
of six thousand men. On Christmas night he crossed the 
Delaware nine miles above Trenton, reached that town at 
daylight, and captured one thousand of the German soldiers. 
Cornwallis, who had thought the .war about over and had 
made arrangements to sail for England, marched rapidly on 
Trenton from the north with an army of about eight thousand 
men. On the evening of January 2 Washington and his army 
found themselves between the Delaware and this British army. 
Cornwallis felt sure that he could easily capture the entire 
American force next day, and only waited for morning and for 
the arrival of two thousand more men who were advancing 
from New Brunswick. But when morning came the American 
army had disappeared. Cornwallis was very much surprised 
and could not imagine where it had gone, until he heard the 
booming of cannon toward Princeton on the very road over 
which he had marched the day before. During the night 
Washington left a few of his men behind to keep his campfircs 
burning so as to deceive the British sentinels, and marched with 
his army around the English forces straight on toward 
Princeton. 

Near Princeton, just before sunrise, the American troops met 
the two thousand English soldiers who had just resumed their 
march toward Trenton, and defeated them. The I'ritish loss 
was about five hundred killed, wounded, and prisoners. 
Washington had hoped to march on to New Brunswick and 
secure the military stores and supplies at that place. But he 
decided not to risk a battle, for his soldiers were tired, and 
Cornwallis was marching toward him as rapidly as possible 
from Trenton. Washington, therefore, marched north and 
went into winter quarters on the heights of Morristown. This 
was a very strong position and would enable bim to attack any 
part of the English army in New Jersey. Howe decided, there- 
fore, to withdraw nearly all his army from New Jersey and not 
attempt the capture of Philadelphia during the winter. 



250 The American Revolution 

"Thus in a I)ri(.'f campaiL;!! of ihrcc weeks," says Fiske, 
"Washinj^ton liad rallietl the frai^ments of a defeated and 
broken army, fouj^ht two successful battles, taken nearly two 
thousand ])risoners, and recovered the state of New Jersey, lie 
had cancelled the disastrous i ffcct of Lee's treachery, and 
replaced things apparently in the contlition in which the fall 
of b'ort Washington had left them. Really he had done much 
more than this, for by assuminq' the offensive and winnini;' 
victories throuL;h sheer force of j:^enius, he had completely 
turned the tide of po])ular feelint;-. The Uritish generals bes;an 
to ])e afraid of him, while on the other hand his army be^an to 
g;vov\i by the accession of fresh recruits. In New Jersey the 
enemy retained n{^thin<j^ but New Tirunswick, Amboy, and 
I'aulus Hook." 

141. Operations in Canada and Northern New York. — The 
sies^eand capture of lioston and the cam])aii;n around New 
^'ork .'uid in New Jersey were the most important events of the 
war durini;' the year 177(). There were some other military 
operations during- that year, however, that are w^orthy of notice. 
An im]iortant campaign took place in northern New York 
while Washin.qton and llowe were ti^htin,«;- for t-lie control of 
New York City, in v^eptember, ITTT), Washington sent about 
two thousand men under Monti^'omery and Arnold to invade 
Canada and attack the strong- fortress of Quebec. Montgomery 
went by way of T,ake Champlain and captured Montreal. 
Arnold marched through the dense forests of Maine. The 
way was so wiUl and rouj^h, and food was so scarce, that he 
lost nearly four hundred of his men in the forest. He finally 
reached Quebec with seven hundred men. They climbed to the 
Plains of .Abraham by the same path over which Wolfe and his 
men had reached the same plains just sixteen years before. 
Mont,L;iMuery soon arri\ed with five hundred mc^-e men. On 
the last day of ITTT), this small force of twelve hundred men 
attempted to capture by storm the strongest fortress in 
America. The attack was made just after midnij^^ht. in a heavy 
snowstorm. It mii^ht have been successful if Monti^omery, who 
was leadins;' one division of the Americans, had not been killed 
just about as he was to force his way into the city. Mont- 



Campaigns 251 

gomery's death caused his nu'ii to waver and fall hack. Arnold, 
who was leadini^- the attack on the other side of the city, was 
badly wounded; hut Morgan took his place and forced his way 
into the city, where he and his small force were captured. The 
British were heavily re-enforced next s])rin<^-, and the American 
army was compelled to retreat from Canada. 

General Carleton, who had command of the Kni^lish forces in 
Canada, soon received orders from hjit^land to invade New 
York by way of Lake Champlain and the Hudson. He was to 
capture the fortress of Ticondero<T;-a, march down the valley of 
the Hudson to New York City, and join Howe, who in the 
meantime was to capture that city. Carleton succeeded in 
jT^ettinj:;^ together a small fleet on the northern end of Lake 
Champlain. About the first of October he sailed with the fleet 
for the fortress of Ticonderoga, at the southern end of the lake, 
and took with him on barges an army of two thou.sand men. 
Arnold, who had been watching Carleton's preparations, had 
built a small fleet to oppose him. He had worked extremely 
hard to build and e(|uip this fleet, and although it was nnich 
smaller than the Knglish fleet, he prepared to give battle at the 
southern end of the lake. The fleets fought for seven hours 
on October 11. 'J'he iMiglish fleet was badly damaged, but the 
American fleet was injured still more. During the night Arnold 
quietly started for Ticonderoga. When the British finally 
overtook him, he stopped with his own ship and hurried the rest 
on to the fort. For four hours he fought the Ih-itish fleet 
single-handed, and when the dead and dying covered the decks 
of his ship, and his other vessels were safe on their way to the 
fort, he ran her ashore with her flags flying, set her on fire, and 
walked through the woods to the fort. The British had been 
so badly crippled that Carleton sailed back to Canada without 
trying to capture the fortress of Ticonderoga. 

142. Summary of War During 1776. — Thus during the 
year 1770 the i'.ritish were driven out of Boston and had failed 
in their attempt to capture the fortress of Ticonderoga. They 
had also failed, as will be seen later, in their attack on Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, 'i'hey had not succeeded in separating 
New h'ngland from the other states or in ca]:)tnring IMiiladel- 



252 The American Revolution 

phia, but tlicy had captured New York City and had defeated 
the American army under Washington, although the loss of 
much of his army was due to the treachery of Lee and to the 
meddling of Congress. His able retreat through New Jersey 
and his brilliant successes at Trenton and Princeton proved that 
Washington was a general of unusual ability. He was now 
considered a great general by the military men of Europe. 

143. The Capture of Philadelphia. — In the spring of 1777 
the British renewed their campaigns for the capture of 
Philadelphia and for the separation of New England from the 
other states. Burgoyne, with an army of about eight thousand 
men. was to capture the fortress of Ticonderoga and move 
down the Hudson. St. Leger. with a force of about two 
thousand, was to capture Oswego, on the east shore of Lake 
Ontario, and march across New York to the Pludson and join 
Burgoyne. Howe, with some eighteen thousand men, was to 
move up the Hudson and meet Burgoyne. 

Before doing this Howe decided to capture Philadelphia. Lee 
was still a prisoner in New York City, and he had now become 
a secret traitor to the American cause. It was on Lee's advice 
that Howe decided first to capture Philadelphia. About the 
middle of June he started through New Jersey for that city 
with an army of eighteen thousand men. but W^ashington so 
posted his army that Howe was afraid to continue his advance, 
and after trying for about three weeks to draw Washington 
away from his strong position, he returned to New York City. 
Toward the latter part of July he placed his army on board 
a large liritish fleet, and sailed away from New York. 
During the last week in August he landed his army of eighteen 
thousand at the upper end of Chesapeake Bay, and began his 
march on Philadelphia. Washington gave battle at the Brandy- 
wine, but was defeated with a loss of about one thousand, the 
British loss being about the same. Howe then continued his 
march, and on September 26 entered Philadelphia. Washington 
again attacked the British at Germantown, on October 4, but 
was again defeated, each army losing about five hundred in 
killed and wounded. Washington's management of this cam- 
paign was of the highest order. Although his army was only 



Campaigns 253 

about half as large as the army under Howe, he compelled that 
general to consume nearly four months in the capture of 
Philadelphia, and he did this with a loss of less than two 
thousand of his soldiers. Washington's main object was to 
prevent Howe from sending any men to the assistance of 
Burgoyne, for he knew that if he could prevent this Burgoyne 
and his army would be captured. This was exactly what 
happened. Howe made a great mistake in not moving up the 
Hudson instead of marching on Philadelphia, for the capture 
of that city was of little value to the English. As the result 
of the campaign the British held Philadelphia, but Washington's 
army was almost as strong, as ever, and Burgoyne received no 
assistance from the twenty-seven thousand soldiers whom, in 
June, Howe had under his command in New York City. 

144. The Surrender of Burgoyne. — On October 17 — 
thirteen days after the battle of Germantown — Burgoyne at 
Saratoga on the Hudson surrendered his army of six thousand 
to the Americans. The failure of Howe to move troops up the 
Hudson sealed the fate of the army tmder Burgoyne. Tiie 
British campaign might have failed anyway, because if Howe 
had advanced north instead of on Philadelphia, Washington 
would have followed with an army of fully eleven thousand 
men. But the failure of Howe to assist Burgoyne made the 
latter's defeat almost certain. 

On August 3, St. Legcr began the siege of Fort Stanwix, 
which was about half way between Oswego and the Hudson. 
In a few days the Americans attacked the force of St. Leger 
from both the front and the rear, and inflicted a serious loss on 
the British and Indians. Schuyler, who had command of the 
army that was opposing Burgoyne's advance, sent Arnold with 
twelve hundred men to relieve Fort Stanwix. On his approach 
the English began to retreat toward Oswego, only to be 
attacked by their Indian allies. But a small part of the British 
army succeeded in reaching Montreal, and thus ended in failure 
this part of the English campaign. 

Meanwhile Burgoyne had begun his advance toward New 
York from the north. On July 5 he captured the fortress of 
Ticonderoga and at once moved on Fort Edward, which was 



254 The American Revolution 

about forty miles farther south. He occupied this fort on the 
30th, Schuyler having moved down the Hudson to Stillwater, 
which was about twenty-five miles south of Fort Edward and 
about the same distance north of Albany. The British army, 
however, was never to reach Stillwater. Schuyler was one of 
the ablest of the American generals. As yet his army was not 
large enough to risk a battle, but it was growing larger each 
day. He did everything possible to delay Burgoyne's advance, 
as he slowly retreated in front of the British. The country was 
wet and swampy, and was covered with a heavy forest which 
naturally made marching with an army very difficult. And 
Schuyler, in addition to destroying the bridges, had trees cut 
down so that they would fall across all the roads and path and 
block them. As a result, Burgoyne was able to advance scarcely 
a mile a day with his army, and food became scarce. 

Meanwhile the farmers were taking up arms and gathering 
around the British as they did at Lexington and Concord. 
Burgoyne had about five hundred Indian warrors in his army. 
The conduct of these Indians, and especially the killing and 
scalping of a beautiful young girl, created a bitter feeling 
among the people, and caused the whole country to rise against 
the British. The farmer soldiers were collecting food, horses, 
and war supplies of every kind at Bennington, a small village 
in Vermont about ten miles north of Massachusetts and about 
twenty miles from where the English army was camped. 
Burgoyne sent a force of one thousand men to capture these 
supplies. Ikit the farmers, under command of General Stark, 
totally defeated these soldiers and captured over nine hundred 
of them. The American loss was less than sixty. This was 
a very serious defeat for Burgoyne, because he was badly in 
need of food and horses, and could not afford to lose so many 
men. 

In the meantime Congress dismissed Schuyler and appointed 
Gates. This was a great injustice to Schuyler, who was just 
about ready to reap the reward of his hard work. He had 
conducted the campaign very ably, and would soon have been 
prepared to attack and capture lUirgoyne and his army. Gates, 
like Lee. had been an officer in the I'ritish armv. He was vain 



Campaigns 255 

and conceited, and a very poor general. Although Schuyler 
had been unjustly deprived of the command, he offered his 
services to Gates and was willing to help him in any way 
possible; but that officer ignored him and treated him shame- 
fully. Arnold and Morgan, who were under Gates, deserve the 
credit for winning the two battles that were yet to be fought. 

The American army could hardly help but capture Burgoyne 
now, for it had rapidly increased to over twenty thousand; 
while the British army, after the battle of Bennington, 
numbered only about seven thousand. On September 19 the 
English marched to attack the Americans at Bemis Heights, 
but were met by Arnold at Freeman's Farm and forced to stop. 
Had Gates sent Arnold the men for whom he had made 
numerous and urgent requests while the battle was raging, the 
British would probably have been defeated. On October 7 
another battle was fought at Freeman's Farm, and this time 
Arnold and Morgan totally defeated the British. Arnold, with 
reckless bravery, led his men in the thickest of the fight and 
was badly wounded in the leg by a rifle ball. The success of the 
Americans was due largely to Arnold, although he had entered 
the fight against the wish of Gates, who was jealous of his 
great popularity with the soldiers. Burgoyne was now 
convinced that he could not escape, and on October 17, at 
Saratoga, a few miles north of Freeman's Farm, he surrendered 
his entire army, which had been reduced to about six thousand 
men. 

145. Some Results of Burgoyne's Surrender. — The surren- 
der of Burgoyne brought about some very important results. It 
marks the end of the second period of the war. as the capture of 
Boston by Washington marked the end of the first period. The 
British made no further attempt to conquer the middle states 
and to separate New England from the other states. They 
withdrew »from Philadelphia in a few months, and General 
Clinton, who soon took Howe's place as commander in chief of 
the English forces in America, placed all his troops in and 
around New York City. He sent out expeditions to worry 
and annoy the Americans, but the attention of the English from 
this time on was directed to the southern states, where they 



256 



The American Revolution 



soon bepi'an a campaign against North Carolina, Sonth Carolina 
and Georgia; 

One of the first results of Ijurgoyne's surrender was the 
attempt of Gates to have Washington removed as commander 
in chief of the American forces, and to secure the position for 
himself. He was assisted by other officers and by some 
members of Congress. Conway was the name of one of the 
officers who assisted Gates, and because of the part he took in 
the plot it is known as the Conway Cabal. The plot was 
C()m])lelely exposed, an<l Washington became more firmly 

established in the hearts 
of the people than ever 
before. They soon saw 
that it was he who had 
planned the cam])aign 
that had resulted in the 
capture of lUirgoyne. 

.Another im]x^rtant re- 
sult of r>urgoyne's sur- 
render was the alliance 
with kVance. France had 
been sending money and 
su]iplies to the Ameri- 
cans secretly, and Lafay- 
ette, a young French 
nobleman, had joined the 
American army and had 
become one of Washing- 
ton's most trusted com- 
manders. Soon after the 
destruction of Ilurgoyne's army France acknowledged the 
indei)endence of the I'nited States and prepared to give open 
assistance to the .Americans. The French government did not 
do this because it had any special love for the Americans, but 
becau.se it hated I'.ngland. If l{ngland should now lose her 
colonies, France would feel revenged for the loss of her 
American empire as a result of the French and Indian War. 
The action of France in declaring that she would treat the 




l.AK.WETTI'; 



Campaigns 257 

United States as an independent nation soon led to war between 
Ens^land on one side and France and Spain on the other. This 
placed Ens;land in a dant^erous position and was of great 
assistance to the Americans, because England, while fighting 
France and Spain, could not send many soldiers to America. 

When the English government heard of Burgoyne's 
surrender and the alliance with France, it sent three commis- 
sioners to Congress and offered to repeal all the laws whicli 
caused the war and to give up forever the right to tax the 
Americans. England was now willing and anxious to grant the 
Americans everything except independence. Had this been 
done two years before there would have been no war ; but it was 
now too late, and Congress refused. 

146. Other Events of the War in the North: (a) Valley 
Fori^c; Battle of Mcmiioiitli. — The important events of the war 
in the North after 17T7 were the battle of Monmouth, the 
storming of Stony Point, the Indian raids, and the treason of 
Arnold. Washington's army had suffered great hardships at 
Valley Forge, where it camped during the winter of 1777-78. 
Many of the men did not have clothes enough to keep them 
warm or food enough to eat. Washington himself said that 
their marches could be traced by the blood stains which they 
left on the snow, bcjcause they did not have shoes to wear. But 
they endured it bravely and nobly, and did not complain. 
During this winter. Baron Steuben, who had been an officer 
unfler iMxderick the Great, joined the American army at Valley 
Forge and drilled it better than it ever had been drilled before. 
As a result of his excellent work, Washington had an army of 
fifteen thousand well-drilled soldiers when spring came. 

In June the I'ritish army of fifteen thousand left Philadeli)hia 
for New York. On June 28, 1778, Washington attacked this 
army at Monmouth, New Jersey, and would very likely have 
won a complete victory had it not been for the treachery of Lee. 
Lee had been exchanged, and was a general under Washington 
at this battle. He was commanding a division of the army, and 
just as the fighting began, he ordered a retreat. Lafayette 
suspected Lee of treachery and sent word back to Washington, 
who rode up among the retreating troops in a towering rage 



258 



The American Revolution 



and ordered Lee to the rear. He was dismissed from the army, 
though he should have been hanged, for papers since discovered 
prove tliat he was a traitor to the American cause, and that while 
a prisoner at New York he advised Howe how best to defeat the 
Americans. In spite of Lee's work, the battle of Monmouth 
was almost a victory for the Americans. The British withdrew 
from the field during the night and continued their march to 
New York City. 

(b) Snlln'aii's and Clark's Campaigns; John Paul Jones. — 
From this on, so far as the northern and middle states were 

concerned, the British 
restricted their fighting 
to stirring up the In- 
dians on the frontiers 
and to the sending out 
of small expeditions for 
the purpose of annoy- 
ing the Americans. In 
order to stop the Indian 
murders and massacres, 
Sullivan marched into 
the country of the Six 
Nations in 1779 and 
completely dest r o y e d 
their power. During 
the same year, George 
Rogers Clark c o n - 
quered the entire coun- 
try lying between the 
Great Lakes and the 
Ohio River on the north and south and the Alleghany Moun- 
tains and the Mississippi River on the east and west. These 
campaigns gave the Americans title to all this vast territory 
and put an end to the Indian attacks. It was during this same 
year of 1779, that Paul Jones, an American naval captain, de- 
stroyed many English merchant vessels. He even sailed into the 
English Channel, and in a brilliant and desperate fight captured 
two English war vessels. 




John Pai l Jones 




On the March with George Rogers Clark 



259 



26o The American Revolution 

(c) Caf^liii'c (if S/oiiy I 'din/ and I'aiilus I look. — 'I'hc cap- 
ture of Stony Point also to(jk place in 177!). v^tony Point was 
a well fortified place a short distance up the Hudson from New 
York City, and was held by an lMi<(lish force of more than 
six hundred. Anlhony Wayne, with a force of twelve hundred 
nu'u, captured this fort at midnij^ht on the l-">th of July. Not 
an American had his \^\\n loaded. As they ai)proached the 
defenses of the fort, the lirilish o])ened a heavy lire, hut in a 
mai^iiilicenl bayonet chart^e the Americans jiressed over the 
works and kille<l or captured e\'er\' man. The Americans held 
Stony Point but three days; but its capture served to brinj:; back 
from Connecticut a small force that Clinton had sent out for 
tlu- pur])ose of destroxiuL;- propert)' and colJertiuL;' ])ro\isions. 
About a month later, Henry Lee captured i*aulus Hook, a 
small fort close to New York City, and succeeded in ,G^ettins:; 
away with more than a hundred and lift\' prisoners. Henry 
Lee was not related to Charles Lee, who tried to cause the 
defeat of the American army at Monmouth. His mother was 
a bo\hoo(l sweedieart of \\'ashin<;ton's, and the i;reat com- 
mander was always very fond of her son. Pecause of his 
splendid and dashing;- work with Greene in the southern 
campaign, the peopU' called him "1 <i<;ht-l lorse Harry." His 
son, Robert 1{ Lee, was the ^reat .general of the Civil War. 

(d) Treason of Benedict . I mold. — It is sad to turn from 
these brave ca])tures of Stoiu Point and Paulus Hook to the 
treason of Arnold. .AriK^d was one of W'asbiiii^ton's ablest 
and bravest ,y;enerals. He felt that he had not been treated 
rijL;ht b\' Coni;ress, and, in fact, il had treated him and other 
f^enerals very unjustly. It had promoted such _y;enerals as 
Gates, Charles TvCe, and Conway over the heads of such 
Qcnerals as Arnold, Schu\ler, Morjjan, and Stark. After the 
P.ritish left Philadelphia. Arnold w^as placed in command of 
that city. There he married the daui^hter of a Tory, and t^ot 
into more trouble with Congress. He was tried by a military 
court, and althoUL;h he was cleared of nearly all the charc:es, 
Washington was ordered to reprimand him. Washine^ton did 
this verv i^ently, because he thouj^ht a f^rcat deal of Arnold; 
and hi- soon uave him command of \\\^st Point, which was 



Campaigns 261 

then the strongest and most important fort on the Hudson. 
Arnold at once made plans to surrender this fort to the English, 
but his plot was discovered just in time to prevent its success. 
Arnold succeeded in escaping to New York City ; but the British 
general Andre, who was helping to plan the surrender, was 
captured within the American lines and justly hanged as a spy. 
Andre, like Nathan Hale, whom Howe hanged at New York 
City as a spy, was an excellent man ; but as in the case of Hale, 
the rules of war demanded that he be executed. Arnold 
deserved hanging far more richly than did Andre or Hale ; but 
we should not forget that -Arnold is the same man who was 
wounded while leading the charge at Quebec, and that the same 
leg that was then injured was shattered by a musket ball at 
Freeman's Farm while he led his men in the thickest of the 
fight that resulted in the surrender of Burgoyne. 

Campaign Against the South 

147. Surrender of Savannah and Charleston. — Soon after 
Congress refused the terms which the F.nglish government 
ofifered through its three commissioners whom it sent to 
America a few months after the surrender of I'urgoyne and 
the signing of the French Alliance, the 1 British gave up the 
two campaigns which had for their object the capture of the 
middle states and the separating of New England from the 
other states. They soon began their third general campaign of 
the war, which had for its object the conquest of Georgia and 
North and South Carolina. Earlier in the war the British 
had made an attack on the South, but it did not prove suc- 
cessful. In June, 177(), Clinton, with an hjiglish fleet and 
army, prepared to capture Charleston. Tn order to meet any 
such attack, the Americans under Moultrie built a fort on a 
small island that commands the entrance to Charleston harbor. 
Clinton attacked this fort, but was unable to capture it. His 
fleet was badly damaged in the attack, and in July he sailed 
to New York and joined Howe in the attack on that city. 
Great credit is due Moultrie for saving Charleston, and in his 
honor the fort has ever since been called Fort Moultrie. After 
this defeat of Clinton, no further attack was made on the 




"lIK SoLTlIKKN CaMI'MCXS I .\ THE RkVOI.UTION 

2G2 



Campaigns 263 

southern states until after the faihn-e of the two northern 
campaigns. 

During the latter part of 1778 a British army captured 
Savannah. The British soon conquered the entire state of 
Georgia. In October, 1779, Lincoln and a French fleet at- 
tempted to recapture Savannah, but were defeated with a loss 
of more than a thousand men. During February, 1780, 
Clinton and Cornwallis began to invest and attack Charleston, 
with a force of' about fourteen thousand men, most of whom 
had been brought from New York City. Lincoln attempted 
to defend the city with a force of about seven thousand, but in 
May he was compelled to surrender Charleston and his entire 
army. Clinton soon returned to New York with the larger 
number of his soldiers, but left Cornwallis with about five 
thousand with whom to complete the conquest of South Caro- 
lina and to attack North Carolina. During the next few 
months the British overran the larger part of South Carolina. 
The only resistance made against them was by small patriot 
bands under such able leaders as Marion, Sumter, Pickens, and 
Williams. Many Tories took up arms in favor of the British. 
This local warfare was very bitter, and often resulted in a 
great deal of cruel and useless destruction of life and property. 

148. Defeat of Gates at Camden. — Meanwhile Congress 
had sent another army south and had appointed Gates its com- 
mander, contrary to the desire of Washington, who wished 
Greene to have charge of the campaign. Gates had taken the 
honors of Burgoyne's surrender, which belonged to Schuyler, 
Arnold, Morgan, and Stark ; but his true place as a general 
was soon to become clear, though at a loss to the Americans. 
Gates's army consisted of about three thousand men. nearly 
half of whom were Maryland and Delaware regulars from 
Washington's army. On August IG, he attacked a force of 
two thousand under Cornwallis near Camden, South Carolina. 
The Americans were defeated with a loss of more than two 
thousand men, while the British loss was less than three hun- 
dred and fifty. The gallant Maryland and Delaware troops 
made a brave and splendid record, as they had done four years 
before at the battle of Long Island, when Howe captured 



264 



The American Revolution 



New York City. 'I'hcy held their j^round, and in a bayonet 
charq'e broke tlie llritish Hnc. They finally retreated, but not 
until nearly half their number had been either killed or 
wounded, and the militia had tied from the field. Gates's poor 
judgment was res]>()nsil)le for this serious defeat. He tied 
from the field and in four days was at Hillsboro in North 
Carolina, two hundred miles away. Thus in a few months 
two American armies had been destroyed in South Carolina. 

The people in nearly all the states became very much de- 
pressed, and many be,Q;an to wonder if the stru£2^_c:le for inde- 
jiendencc mis;ht not }et be a failure. The war at this time was 

really much more favora- 
ble for the Americans 
than it was four years 
before, when Washint^- 
ton, on Christmas nit^^ht, 
177(), crossed the Dela- 
ware and be^q;an his ad- 
vance on Trenton. Four 
years of war, however, 
had about tired the peo- 
ple out, and the worth- 
less paper money which 
Cont^^ress had issued had 
nearly ruined business. 
The people lon£jcd for 
peace, and the end of the 
war looked as far off as 
ever. Little did they 
dream while thus dis- 
courap^ed in the latter 
part of 1780 that the British would be driven almost entirely 
out of the South durinc^ the next year; that Cornwallis with 
an army of more than seven thousand men would be captured ; 
and that the last battle of the war would be fouc;ht. 

149. Greene's Southern Campaign: (a) The Situation 
There. — After the destruction of Gates's army. Congress asked 
Washin£rton to recommend a jjeneral to take charsre of the 




N.\THANAEi. Greene 



Campaigns 265 

southern campaign against the victorious British forces in the 
South. Washington at once recommended Greene. He arrived 
at Charlotte, North CaroHna, on the 2d of December, 1780, and 
at once took command of Gates's army, which now numbered 
only about two thousand men. The army was' small, but 
Greene, next to Washington, was perhaps the ablest Ameri- 
can general of the war, and had under him a number of ex- 
cellent officers. He had with him "Light-Horse" Harry Lee and 
William Washington, both of whom were excellent cavalry 
leaders, the last named being related to the commander in 
chief. Greene also had with him Morgan, Marion, Sumter, and 
Pickens, all good and tried commanders. Opposed to these able 
generals and their small army was Cornwallis, who was, per- 
haps, the ablest British general in America during the war. 
In addition to his other troops in South Carolina. Cornwallis 
had with him, a little to the south of Greene, more than three 
thousand of the bravest and best troops in the English army. 
He also had with him Tarleton, who was a very able com- 
mander. 

.(b) Battle of King's Mountain. — About four weeks be- 
fore Greene arrived at Charlotte, Cornwallis lost Ferguson, 
who like Tarleton was an officer of unusual ability. He had 
sent Ferguson with a force of more than eleven hundred men 
up into the highlands of North Carolina. As Ferguson ad- 
vanced the people began to gather around the British as they 
did at Lexington and Bennington. Ferguson became alarmed 
and began to retreat for the purpose of rejoining Cornwallis,' 
but he soon saw that he must fight. He selected the top of a 
high hill called King's Mountain as the place of battle. The 
Americans stormed this strong position on October 7 and killed 
or captured the entire British force, ^the brave Ferguson him- 
self being among the killed. This defeat of the Rritish greatly 
encouraged the people in North and South Carolina. It was 
under these conditions that Greene began his southern cam- 
paign, and he made the battle of King's Mountain the first of 
a series of American successes. 

(c) Morgan's Victory at the Cozvpeiis. — He sent Morgan 

with nine hundred men to the left of Cornwallis into the north- 
•^0 



266 The American Revolution 

western part of South Carolina, and marched south with the 
rest to the right of the I>ritish. Cornwallis sent Tarleton with 
about eleven hundred men after Morj^an. That jT^eneral pre- 
pared for battle at the Cowpens, an open meadow just south 
of North Carolina and a short distance southeast of King's 
Mountain, where Ferguson had been defeated about two 
months before. Tarleton attacked Morgan on January 17, 
and was defeated with a loss of more than eight hundred. 
The American loss was less than seventy-five, only twelve 
being killed. 

Morgan, with six hundred prisoners, began a hasty retreat 
north, and was soon pursued by Cornwallis. When Greene 
heard of Morgan's victory, he rode lapidly across the country 
to assist in the retreat, having sent his own army north under 
the command of one of his generals with instructions to stop 
just south of Virginia. Cornwallis could not overtake Mor- 
gan and Greene, as the retreat was very ably conducted. Both 
divisions of the American army united, passed into Virginia, 
and crossed the Dan. As Cornwallis had no boats, he could 
not cross this river. 

(d) Battle of Guilford Court House; Results of Greene's 
Campaign. — After resting his men a few days. Greene crossed 
back into North Carolina and advanced toward Cornwallis, 
whose army now numbered less than twenty-three hundred ; 
while Greene's force had increased to more than four thousand, 
1)ut less than half of these were veterans. The two armies met 
fat Guilford Court House on March 15. The battle raged all 
the afternoon, and at evening Greene withdrew from the field 
with the loss of about four hundred. Cornwallis lost about 
six hundred, but his soldiers made a splendid fight. The battle, 
however, was a serious loss for him, because he had left but 
sixteen hundred men, while Greene's army was constantly 
increasing. Leaving his wounded behind, Cornwallis marched 
to Wilmington, on the coast of North Carolina, so as to secure 
re-enforcements and to be under the protection of the British 
fleet. Greene advanced into South Carolina and in a series of 
battles compelled the British to give up the entire state except 
the citv of Charleston. The last battle was that of Eutaw 



Campaigns 267 

Springs, foujT^ht on September <S. Thus Greene, in a mapii- 
ficent campaij2^n of nine months, had changed the entire situa- 
tion in the South, and had i)rovcn himself second only to 
Washington as an officer. 

150. Closing Events of the War: (a) Surrender of 
Cornzvallis. — After remaining at Wilmington about two weeks, 
Cornwallis advanced north into Virginia, where soldiers from 
New York soon increased his army to more than seven thou- 
sand. Washington had sent Lafayette to Virginia, and he 
succeeded in collecting a force of about five thousand men, most 
of whom were militia. Cornwallis tried to force Lafayette to 
give battle, but could not succeed. As the American army 
became larger and better drilled, Cornwallis advanced east, and 
in August took up a strong position at Yorktown, which is on 
a peninsula that projects out into Chesapeake Bay, with the 
James River on one side and the York River on the other. 
Little did Cornwallis think when he went into camp at York- 
town that he would be compelled to surrender his army within 
the next few months. 

On the 14th of August Washington learned that Admiral 
Grasse was on his way from the West Indies to Chesapeake 
Bay with a large French fleet. Five days later Washington, 
with two thousand American troops and four thousand French 
troops, crossed the Hudson above New York City and started 
for Yorktown. He told no one except the French commander 
about his plans, and his soldiers and people could not imagine 
where he was going until he had reached Philadelphia. When 
they learned that he was on his way to Yorktown, they went 
wild with delight. Clinton thought Washington and the 
French fleet were preparing to attack New York, and had no 
idea that Washington would march four Inmdred miles south 
and attempt the capture of Cornwallis. When he learned 
Washington's real ol)ject, it was too late for him to send re- 
enforcements to Cornwallis. 'I'he French fleet arrived in 
Chesapeake Bay on August '.)], and as it was stronger than the 
English fleet, Cornwallis could not escape by sea. 

The French fleet had on board three thousand soldiers, and 
these joined the five thousand troops under Lafayette, that 




26S 



Campaigns 269 

commander planted his entire force of eight thousand men 
across the neck of the peninsula and thus cut ofif Cornwallis's 
escape by land. Washington arrived on the 14th of September, 
and on the 2Gth the combined American and French army, 
consisting of sixteen thousand men, began to invest the British 
at Y6rktown. Seventy cannon opened fire on the British 
works. On October 10, 1781 (just four years and two days 
after the surrender of Burgoyne), Cornwallis, after a gallant 
defense, surrendered his entire army, which consisted of more 
than seven thousand men. 

(b) Some Results of the Surrender at Yorktozvn. — As the 
news of the surrender at Yorktown spread through the states, 
the people gave themselves over to general rejoicing. There 
were bonfires in almost every village, for the people knew 
that the surrender of Cornwallis, follo\^ing as it did, Greene's 
great campaign in the South, ended the war. When the news 
reached Paris, flags were flung to the breeze, nearly all the 
houses were illuminated, and the French, like the Americans, 
gave themselves up to general rejoicing. When Lord North 
heard the news, he walked the floor of his room in great ex- 
citement, exclaiming, "My God, it is all over." When Charles 
Fox, one of the leaders of the House of Commons, heard it, he 
sprang from his chair with a shout of joy. Many of the 
leading statesmen of England were equally as glad as Fox that 
Cornwallis had been captured. Lord North, who had been 
Prime Minister since 1770, was soon forced by the House of 
Commons to resign, and the king was compelled to appoint in 
his place the leader of the Whig party, that had always been 
friendly to the Americans and opposed to the war. The fall 
of Lord North marked the end of the king's personal rule in 
England. Never since then has a king attempted to rule. 
The people, through the House of Commons, have controlled 
the government and made the lav/s, and the king has simply 
reigned. The surrender at Yorktown, therefore, was a glori- 
ous victory for Englishmen as well as for Americans. The 
Americans had fought to uphold the liberties of Englishmen, 
just as their ancestors in England had often done in the years 
gone , bv. 



270 The American Revolution 

On September 3, 1783, a treaty of peace was signed at Paris, 
which ended the war between Enj^land on one side and France, 
Spain, and the L'nited States on the other. The United States 
secured the territory bounded by the Atlantic and the Miss- 
issippi on the east and west, and by the Great Lakes and 
Florida on the north and south. Thus En,^land acknowledged 
the independence of the United States just eight years, four 
months, and fifteen days after Samuel Adams and John Han- 
cock heard, at sunrise, while walking through the fields on 
their way to the second session of Congress, the musket fire 
between the regulars and the minutemen on the green at 
Lexington. The war that was at first carried on by the Ameri- 
cans almost solely for the protection of English liberties in 
America, and not for the purpose of securing independence, 
ended with the loss to England of the fairest and most valua- 
ble part of her l{mpire'"and in the birth of a nation that has now 
become a mighty power in human society. 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 

CAUSES AND BEGINNINGS 

Ql'estions for Class Recitations 

(In connection witli tlio ([uestions on the American Revolution, 
each pupil should read the second number of Hart's "Source Read- 
ers in American History," pp. 15,3-309. See "Explanatory and Sug- 
gestive," page i.\.) What was King George's attitude toward pop- 
ular government? Explain fully why he desired to secure control 
of Parliament. How did he succeed in doing this? Explain quite 
fully why Parliament wished to tax the colonists. Was it the duty 
of the colonies to help pay the cost of the French and Indian War, 
and to help support the British soldiers in America? Why did the 
colonists object to paying the taxes levied by Parliament? Why 
was King George anxious to take up this quarrel with the Ameri- 
cans? Discuss the Navigation .A.cts, explaining quite fully why 
they were passed. Why did the colonists not seriously object to 
these laws? Why were general search warrants, called Writs of 
Assistance, issued in connection with these laws? Explain why 
the Americans objected to these Writs. What effect did the issu- 
ing of these Writs have on the people? Explain how the Stamp 
Act violated the right of taxation. How was this Act regarded by 



Questions and Topics 271 

the Americans? Describe the action of Virginia against this Act. 
What action was taken by the other colonies? Discuss the Stamp 
Act Congress, mentioning its origin, composition, and work. De-^ 
scribe how the people treated the stamp distributors and the 
stamped paper. Why did the Stamp Act never go into effect? 
Why did the English merchants have it repealed? What was the 
Declaratory Act and wliy was it passed? Describe the Townshend 
Acts. How were they received by the Americans? Why were all' 
the taxes levied by them repealed except the tax on tea? Why 
was the tax on tea retained? Explain quite fully how the tea im- 
ported under this tax was received by the Americans. Discuss the 
work of Samuel Adams in relation to tlie "Boston Tea Party." 
Discuss the "Boston Massacre." What led to the passage of the 
Repressive or Intolerable Acts? Describe each of these acts. 
What effect did they have on the Americans? 

Explain carefully and fully how the Stamp Act, the Townshend 
Acts, and the attempt of the English government to send Amer- 
icans to England for trial led to union of action on the part of the 
colonies. Explain carefully what led to the appointment of the 
first permanent Committee of Correspondence. Explain fully what 
led to the calling of the First Continental Congress. Discuss care- 
fully the work of this Congress. What led the Americans to make 
active preparations for war? Describe these preparations. De- 
scribe the work of Samuel Adams in connection with these prepara- 
tions. Who were the minutemen? Describe the battles of Lex- 
ington and Concord. What was the effect of these battles on the 
Americans? (Each pupil should draw a map showing the direction 
of Lexington .and Concord from Boston, and the British line of 
march.) Discuss the work of the Second Continental Congress. 
Describe the battle of Bunker Hill. Describe the siege and cap- 
ture of Boston by Washington. (Each pupil should draw a map 
of the neighborhood of Boston, showing the position of the Eng- 
lish and the American troops during the siege of Boston and in 
the battle of Bunker Hill.) Describe the capture of Forts Ticon- 
deroga and Crown Point. 

Discuss the petition sent to the king by the Second Continental 
Congress in July, 1775, and also the resolutions passed by that 
Congress at the time. What do this petition and these resolutions 
show as to the feeling of the Americans toward England? What 
were Washington's attitude and feelings on the question of inde- 
pendence when he first took command of the army? What effect 
did the petition of the Congress have upon King George? How 
did this affect the question of independence? When and why 
were state governments formed? How did the formation of these 
governments aid in the growth of the desire for independence? 



2/2 The American Revolution 

What effect did the patriotic writings of Thomas Paine have on 
the people? Why did King George hire foreign soldiers to fight 
in America? How was this regarded in Europe and in America? 
Describe the passage of the Declaration of Independence. What 
was the nature of the Declaration? How was it received by tiie 
Americans? How was the opinion in England divided regarding 
this war? What was the attitude of the other nations of Europe 
toward England? Were the Americans united in favor of the 
war? How did the United States compare with England in 
wealth? What was the source of its greatest weakness? In what 
respects had the United States the advantage of England in this 
war? 

CAMPAIGNS 

In what way did the battles of Lexington and Concord and the 
siege of Boston influence the British plans of campaigns? De- 
scribe carefully the three general campaigns adopted by the 
British after the siege of Boston. Explain carefully the object of 
each. 

Describe the capture of New York by the Britisli. (Each pupil 
should draw a map illustrating the battles around New York City.) 
Explain how the disobedience of Lee after the surrender of Fort 
Washington injured the American cause. In what way was Lee 
captured by the English? Describe the retreat of Washington 
through New Jersey. Describe the capture of Trenton by Wash- 
ington. Explain how Washington soon after the capture of Tren- 
ton succeeded in compelling the British to give up nearly all of 
New Jersey. "(Each pupil should draw a map illustrating the work 
of Washington from the time he began his retreat across New 
Jersey until he went into winter quarters at Morristown.) De- 
scribe the invasion of Canada by Montgomery and Arnold. 

What two campaigns did the British renew in the spring of I777? 
Describe the campaign which resulted in the capture of Phila- 
delphia by the British. (Each pupil should draw a map fully illus- 
trating the campaign which resulted in the capture of Philadelphia, 
and also the battles which followed immediately after its capture.) 
In what way did Washington's work in this campaign assist in the 
capture of Burgoyne and his army? Describe fully the conditions 
and battles which led to the surrender of Burgoyne. (Each pupil 
should draw a map illustrating the campaign which resulted in the 
surrender of Burgoyne.) What effect did Burgoyne's surrender 
have on the English government? What effect did it have on the 
Americans? How did it assist in bringing about an alliance be- 
tween France and America? How did the results of this alliance 
in Europe assist the Americans? How did this alliance affect the 



Questions and Topics 273 

policy of the English government toward America? Why would 
not the Americans accept the liberal terms offered by the English 
government? Describe the condition of the American army at 
Valley Forge. Why did the British leave Philadelphia in June, 
1778? Describe the battle of Monmouth. Describe the storming 
of Stony Point. Discuss the treason of Arnold. After the battle 
of Monmouth why did the English army give up all the country in 
the Middle and New England states except the city of New York 
and the country close around that city? What did the British 
hope to gain by stirring up the Indians on the frontiers of Penn- 
sylvania and New York? Describe how Clark and Sullivan com- 
pletely defeated the Indians. Tell what you can about Paul Jones. 

Describe the attempt of the English to capture Charleston in 
1776. Why did the British not renew the campaign against the 
South until after 1778, when their two northern campaigns had 
practically failed? Describe the southern campaign from the cap- 
ture of Savannah in the latter part of 1778 to the capture of Char- 
leston in 1780. Describe the work of the Americans under such 
southern leaders as Marion, Sumter, Pickens, and Williams. De- 
scribe the campaign of Gates that resulted in his defeat at Camden. 
Give a full discussion of Greene's southern campaign. What was 
the importance of this campaign? CEach pupil should draw a 
map illustrating these southern campaigns.) 

Give a full description of the campaign which led to the surren- 
der of Cornwallis. How was the news of this surrender received 
in America, France, and England? What efifect did it have on the 
war? When and where was the treaty of peace signed that ended 
the Revolution? What territory did this treaty give to the United 
States? Why was the success of the Americans in this war a great 
victory for Englishmen as well as for Americans? 

Questions for Compositions and Ex.^minations 

Discuss the causes of the American Revolution. Discuss the 
first period of the Revolution. (This period ended with the evacu- 
ation of Boston by the English.) Discuss the principles for which 
the Americans were fighting during this first period. Discuss the 
campaign against Philadelphia. Discuss the campaign which had 
for its object the separation of New England from the middle 
states. Discuss the campaign against the southern states. Dis- 
cuss the events which led to the surrender of Cornwallis. Discuss 
the effect of the Revolution on political liberty in America and in 
Europe. 



2/4 The American Revolution 

SunjKCTS FOR Si'KCIAL StUDY AND GENERAL REVIEW 

(A careful study of the subjects wliich follow should constitute 
the review for tlie seventh-grade work in history and civics. The 
iJiijiils .shf)ul(I have ample time for the study of these subjects, and 
should he ixTuiittcd free access to this book and to other available 
material when ijreparing these papers or written discussions.) 
Give a written discussion of Conditions Favorable to the Discovery 
of America. Give a written discussion of Early Discoveries and 
Explorations in North America. Give a written discussion of The 
American Indian. Give a written discussion of the Origin, Growth, 
and Political History of the Southern Colonies. Give a written 
discussion of the Origin, Growth, and Political History of the New 
England Colonies. Give a written discussion of the Origin, 
Growth, and Political History of the Middle Colonies. Give a 
written di.^^cussion of the I'Vench in North America down to and 
including the hVench and Indian War. Give a written discussion 
of Industrial Conditions in the Colonies. Give a written discussion 
of Social Conditions in the Colonies. Give a written discussion of 
government in the colonics and its relation to government to-day. 
Give a written discussion of Religion in the Colonies. Give a 
written discussion of Education in the Colonies. Give a written 
discussion of the origin of American Institutions. Give a written 
discussion of the American Revolution, including its Causes and 
Results. 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD 



THE AMERICAN FLAG 

When Freedom, from her mountain height, 

Unfurled her standard to the air, 
Slie tore the azure robe of night, 
And set the stars of glory there. 
She mingled with its gorgeous dyes 
The milky baldric of the skies. 
And striped its pure, celestial white 
With streakings of the morning light, 
Then, from his mansion in the sun, 
She called her eagle bearer down. 
And gave into his mighty hand 
The symbol of her chosen land. 

Majestic monarch of the cloud! 

Who rear'st aloft thy regal form, 
To hear the tempest trumpings loud 
And see the lightning lances driven, 

When strive the warriors of the storm, 
And rolls the thunder-drum of heaven — 
Child of the sun! to thee 'tis given 

To guard the banner of the free; 
To hover in the sulphur smoke. 
To ward away the battle-stroke; 
And bid its blending shine afar, 
Like rainbows on the clouds of war. 

The harbingers of victory! 



Flag of the free heart's hope and home, 

By angel hands to valor given. 
Thy stars have lit the welkin dome. 

And all thy hues were born in heaven. 
Forever float that standard sheet! 

Where breathes the foe but falls before us, 
With Freedom's soil beneath our feet. 

And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us! _ 

— Joseph Rodman Drake 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD 

I. The Nature of the National Government 

II. The Northwest Territory: the Ordinance of 1787 

III. Condition of Money, Business, and Commerce 

IV. Anarchy and Rebellion 

V. The Constitutional Convention 

1. Events Leading to the Convention 

2. Organization of the Convention: Character of Members 

3. Making the Constitution — the Three Great Compromises 

VI. The Constitution 

1. Legislative Department 

2. Executive Department 

3. Judicial Department 

4. Ratification 

VII. Organization of the New Government 



275 



2/6 The Critical Period 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD 

151. The Nature of the National Government. — Although 
the Treaty of Paris ended the American Revohition, conditions 
in the I'nited States from the standpoint of hoth business and 
government continued very serious and l)ad indeed. In many 
ways the )ears between 17(S;} and 17<S!) were the most danger- 
ous and important in the history of the United States. The 
period covered by these years has been aptly and fittingly 
called by Fiske "The Critical Period of American History." 

(a) Government by the Continental Congress. — The bad 
condition of affairs during this period was due to the fact that 
there was no strong central government in the United States. 
From the beginning of the Revolution until 1781 the Conti- 
nental Congress directed and attended to the general affairs of 
the states. There was no other form of national government. 
This Congress had no legal standing. It was not created by 
any constitution or law, and hence its powers and duties were 
not defined in any way. It tried to do those things which 
were necessary to carry on the war with success ; but as it 
had no power to enforce its acts or laws, its efforts were not 
always successful, and as a result Washington's plans were 
often injured. It could not raise soldiers, levy taxes, or 
regulate commerce — three powers that a national government 
must have if it wishes to live and have its laws obeyed. All 
Congress could do was to ask the states to do certain things. 
It could not do them itself, neither could it compel the states to 
do them. Sometimes a state granted the request of Congress, 
and sometimes it did not. 

(b) Government under Articles of Confederation. — In 
1781 — about two years before the war closed — a sort of writ- 
ten constitution went into effect. This constitution is known 
as the Articles of Confederation. It was prepared by Con- 
gress and submitted to the states in 1777, but not ratified by all 
the states and put into effect until 1781. This constitution 
simply put into written form and legalized the powers w^hich 
Congress had already assumed and enjoyed. Congress was still 



The Northwest Territory 277 

the national or genet al government for all the states, and it had 
no more power than it had before this written constitution or 
agreement was adopted by the states. In some ways it had 
less power. It could not even request the states for soldiers 
or money unless a majority of the delegates from each of nine 
states voted in favor of making such request, whereas before 
Congress could pass any measure if but seven states voted 
in favor of such measure. This was indeed a weak form of 
government .and naturally did not secure the respect of the 
American people or of foreign governments. Even when 
the war was going on, the states often did not grant the re- 
quests of Congress, and after the actual pressure of war had 
been removed, each state did about as it pleased. Congress 
did not have power to carry out its treaties and agreements 
with foreign governments, and as a result these governments, 
between 1783 and 1789, came to have less and less respect for 
the United States. 

The responsibility for this weak and inefficient national 
government rested with the people. They were afraid that a 
strong central government would try to take away their rights, 
as the government of England had tried to do. It required 
five hard and dangerous years after the end of the war to con- 
vince them that a strong central government was necessary to 
their happiness and to the welfare of the new nation. The 
conditions and events that caused a majority of the American 
people to change their ideas about a strong national govern- 
ment, and that caused them to adopt and ratify the present 
Constitution, will now be discussed. 

152. The Northwest Territory: Ordinance of 1787. — 
The most important law enacted by Congress under the Arti- 
cles of Confederation is the Ordinance of 1787, passed in July, 
1787. This law provided for the organization and govern- 
ment of what was then called the Northwest Territory. This 
territory was north of the Ohio, and included what is now the 
states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. 
During the greater part of the Revolution, it was claimed by 
Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, but 
Maryland refused to ratify the Articles of Confederation until 



278 



The Critical Period 



these states ag^reed to cede it to Congress and thus make it 
the common property of all tlie states. Seeing that Maryland 
would not ratify the Articles of Confederation until they agreed 
to do this, these four states finally agreed to comply with her 
request. By ITSfi all this vast territory became the common 
property of all the states and was under the. direct control of 
Congress. 

As stated above, the Ordinance of 17.S7 provided for the 
government of this territory. This ordinance or law is of very 
great importance for several reasons. The government which 
it created for this territory has been extended, with slight 
changes, to all the new territory since acquired by the United 
States, except that acquired as a result of the recent war with 
Spain. The ordinance provided that the governor of the 
territory was to be appointed by Congress, but there \vas to be a 
legislature or law-making body composed of delegates elected 
by the people of the territory. It also provided that when 
the population became large enough, the territory should be 
divided ; that these divisions should be made states, and that 
they should be admitted into the I'nion on an equal footing 
wdth the original thirteen states. Since this ordinance was 
passed, and in compliance with the form of government which 
it provided, thirty-two new states have been added to the 
original thirteen, making a grand total of forty-five at the 
present time (1905). The ordinance also contained the very 
important provision that slavery should never exist in the 
Northwest Territory, or in any state that might be created 
from it. This was the first legislation of importance by Con- 
gress on the question of slavery. It was passed without any 
unpleasant discussion, but during the next seventy-five years 
there were to be many bitter disputes in Congress over the 
question of slavery in the territories. The cession of the 
Northwest Territory to Congress had another very important 
result. It tended to keep the states from separating during 
the critical period of our history. All the states felt that they 
had a common interest in this land, and that Congress had 
charge of it for them. Congress did not really have the legal 
authoritv to take charge of this territorv, but it vcrv wisely 




Longitude West 60' from Greeuwich 



CLAIMS AND CESSIONS. 



Money, Business, and Commerce 279 

assumed the authority. It sold the land to settlers and used 
the money to defray the expenses of the national government. 

153. Condition of Money, Business and Commerce: (a) 
Lack of Hard Money: Paper Money. — The lack of hard 
money in the states during- the Revolution, and after the war 
very bad condition of business, caused great distress and suf- 
fering among the people, and especially among the poorer 
classes. No gold or silver money was made by the United 
States until 1793 — ten years after the Revolution. All the 
hard money used was the coins of other nations, mostly those 
of England, Spain, and France. There was very little hard 
money in the states during the Revolution, and after the war 
nearly all of this was used to pay for the large amount of 
manufactured goods which English merchants sent over and 
which the Americans were badly in need of because they had 
been unable to secure such articles or goods while the British 
fleets were blockading the coast. 

During the Revolution, Congress felt that it was necessary 
to issue large amounts of paper money in order to carry on 
the war successfully. The people of the country soon came to 
believe that Congress could never redeem this money ; that is, 
give a person a dollar of hard money for every dollar of paper 
money which he might have. When the people came to be- 
lieve this, the value of paper money became less and less, 
because the people did not wish to accept it in payment for 
their goods. Before the war closed a thousand dollars of this 
money was not worth a dollar of hard money. The paper 
money issued by Congress during the Revolution was called 
Continental Currency. When speaking of something worth- 
less, it soon became customary among the people to say that it 
was "not worth a continental," and this was the origin of that 
experession. It would seem that such experience with the worth- 
less continental money issued by Congress would have taught 
the people that it was a l)a(l thing to issue paper money that 
could not be redeemed with hard money. It did not, however, 
for during the Critical Period there was a strong paper money 
party in all but two of the states. Some of the states issued 

paper money, but like the paper money which Congress had 
21 



280 The Critical Period 

issued it soon became almost valueless. Nothing could have 
been much worse for the people than this worthless money. 

(b) Busi)icss Dc[^rcssioii. — During the war the valuable 
fishing industry, and still more valuable commerce of the 
states, had been almost totally destroyed, and the farming in- 
dustry had been greatly injured. Many people who were rich 
at the beginning of the Revolution had become poor, and the 
poor had become poorer. The lack of hard money and the 
worthless paper money caused conditions to become worse 
and worse during the Critical Period. The people could not 
pay their taxes, and as a result Congress could not pay the 
interest on the money which it had borrowed to carry on the 
Revolution. It even had to borrow money for the running 
expense of the government. The states would use most of the 
money raised by taxes for state purposes first, and simply give 
what they could spare to Congress for national purposes. 
Congress had no power to compel the states to comply with its 
requests. Europe had very little respect for a nation that 
could not pay its debts, and our ministers to foreign nations 
were not treated with very much respect or consideration, and 
were soon unable to make treaties or to borrow money. 

(c) Commercial Strife. — The continuance of this bad 
condition of affairs with regard to money and business caused 
many thoughtful people to become anxious about the future of 
the nation. It was preparing people to welcome a government 
that would be strong enough to make these conditions better at 
home and secure respect from foreign nations. But the need 
for a stronger central government was soon to be made still 
plainer by the commericial war which some of the states began 
to wage against the others. Each state had the power to levy 
a duty or tax on all goods imported hom foreign countries, 
and also on the goods imported from the other states. The 
different states levied a different amount of tax on the same 
article that was brought to the United States from Europe. 
This was bad enough, but when some of the states began to 
tax the goods brought from the other states, bitter feelings 
were created. Instead of there being one nation, it began to 
look as if the United States consisted of thirteen nations. 



The Constitutional Convention 



2«I 



154. Anarchy and Rebellion. — Worthless money, poor 
business conditions, and the commercial war between the states 
were not the only troubles that befell the United v^tates durinij^ 
the Critical Period. .There were (juarrels over territory. New 
York and New Hampshire actually raised troops for the pur- 
pose of settling the dispute over the territory of Vermont, and 
there was an angry controversy between Connecticut and 
Pennsylvania over the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania. 
While A\\ of these disputes were finally settled without actual 
warfare, they indicated plainly to thoughtful Americans that 
war between states might break out at anv time. 

In August, 178n, an open insurrection, known as Shays's 
Rebellion, broke out in Massachusetts against the state govern- 
ment, and it was not put down until February of the next year. 
IMany people became very much dissatisfied because the legisla- 
ture would not pass a paper money bill. Some two thousand 
took up arms for the purpose of resisting the state authority, 
and it required more than four thousand state troops to put 
down the insurrection. At the same time there was open 
opposition to the state laws in both New Hampshire and 
Vermont. 

The Constitutional Convention 

155. Events Leading to the Convention: (a) Desire for 
Sfro!ii:;er Central Goi'eriimeiif. — It is no wonder that under 
such conditions all thinking people in the United States were 
becoming alarmed for the welfare and life of the nation, and 
began to fear that before long even life and property would be 
unsafe in some of the states. x\ll these troubles about paper 
money, business, commerce, and rebellion had about made the 
people ready to sanction a central government that would be 
strong enough to protect life and property in all the states, and 
that would give peace and prosperity to the nation. As a 
result of suggestions by Washington, a series of events were 
taking place in Virginia and -Maryland that were soon to give 
the people of the l-nited States a chance either to' accept or 
reject a constitution that would establish a central or national 
government strong enotigh for all purposes. These suggestions 



282 The Critical Period 

of Washington's were at first small and modest, but the series 
of events which they set in motion l^rouia^ht about mighty results. 

(b) The Mccfiiii:; of Mount J'cnion. — In the presence of 
Congress at Annapolis, Maryland, on the twenty-third day of 
December, 1783, Washington resigned his command as com- 
mander in chief of the army of the Ignited States. He refused 
to accept one cent as pay for his services during the eight years 
of the war. He simply asked Congress to defray his personal 
expenses when that body found it convenient to do so, and 
submitted a carefully prepared statement of the expenses which 
he had incurred in the service of the United States. He then 
hurried to his old home at Mount Vernon, Virginia, and spent 
his first Christmas at home since the beginning of the war. It 
was Washington's desire to spend the remainder of his days 
quietly on his beautiful Mount Vernon plantation, trusting 
that the nation would become peaceful, prosperous, and strong. 
It had long been his desire to see the country west of the Al- 
leghanies become settled, and he hoped that the trade of that 
rich territory would closely connect its people with those of the 
Atlantic coast, and thus keep the residents of these two sections 
of the country from drifting apart. He therefore suggested 
to his friends in A^irginia that it would be a good thing 
to improve navigation on the upper ])art of the Potomac River 
and build good roads over into this new country. As part of 
the work would be on Maryland territory, he suggested that 
that state be invited to cooperate in the work. In accordance 
with these suggestions, delegates from both Maryland and Vir- 
ginia met at Washington's home in 1785 to discuss methods 
and plans for the construction of better roads into the western 
country. During this meeting at his home, Washington advised 
that A'irginia and Maryland hold a joint convention for dis- 
cussing this entire matter of building canals and roads, and 
he also suggested that this convention might agree upon 
uniform duties or taxes on all goods imported into these states. 

(c) The Convention at Annaf^oJis; Call for the Constitu- 
tional Convention. — Acting upon these suggestions of Wash- 
ington, the legislature of Maryland sent a communication to the 
legislature of \^irginia asking that state to send delegates to 



The Constitutional Convention 283 

meet at Annapolis for the purpose of discussing these matters, 
adding that it might be well to invite all the states to send 
delegates to this convention. Virginia at once proceeded to 
carry out this plan. When the convention met in September, 

1786, it was found that but five states were represented. The 
delegates therefore did not attempt to settle any of the questions 
proposed for discussion, but before adjourning they passed a 
resolution advising that another convention be held at Phila- 
delphia on the second Monday of May, 1787. Hamilton pre- 
pared the resolution. In it was embodied the idea of a stronger 
central government. Congress was asked to recommend to 
the several states that they appoint -delegates to the proposed 
convention. Cut in the fall of 178G that body refused to do 
so. About this time, however, Shays's Rebellion broke out in 
Massachusetts, and this, together with other riots and dis- 
turbances throughout the country, so thoroughly alarmed the 
people that Congress, in 1787, requested the states to appoint 
delegates as recommended by the convention at Annapolis. 
Virginia had already chosen delegates, and had selected Wash- 
ington as one of them. When the news of Washington's 
selection as a delegate spread throughout the country, the 
people were very much pleased and began to take great interest 
in the proposed convention. People began to look forward to 
it with the hope that it would do something to relieve the nation 
of 1he various troubles from which it was suffering. 

156. Organization of the Convention; Character of the 
Members. — The convention that met at Philadelphia in May, 

1787, is known in history as the Constitutional Convention, be- 
cause it made or framed the present Constitution of the United 
States. The Constitutional Coni'cntion is of American origin, 
and the one that framed our national Constitution is by far the 
most important one ever held in America. It was composed 
of fifty-five members, and represented all the states except 
Rhode Island. In almost every case the states had sent their 
ablest men, and it is no doubt true that never before nor since 
have so many able men come together for the purpose of 
discussing government. Tn many ways Washington and Frank- 
lin were the aljlcst men in the convention. Madison, perhaps. 



284 



The Critical Period 



came next. He had more to do tliaii any other man in actnally 
phuming the Constitution. Hamilton of New York was another 
of the ablest of those present, but he had very little to do with 
making the Constitution. New York was opposed to a strong 
central government, and the two other members from that 
state soon left the convention ar.d went home. As the voting 
in the convention was by states, Hamilton would not alone cast 
the vote of New York, and as a result he was not present 
at all the sessions. His ideas of a national government were 

not accepted, as he 
advocated a strong 
central government 
in which the states 
and people would 
have less power 
than most of the 
other members de- 
s i r e d. Hamilton, 
however, was one 
of the ablest and 
strongest defend- 
ers of the Consti- 
tution after its 
final adoption by 
t h e convention. 
There was many 
other delegates in 
the convention with 
scarcely less ability 
and common sense 
than those above named. This was a very fortunate thing 
for mankind, for the work to be done would affect the rest 
of the world as well as America. 

Washington was elected president of the convention, and 
it was decided to sit with closed doors and keep everything 
secret until the work was complete. Madison kept full notes 
of the debates and other proceedings, and many of the things 
which took j^lace in the convention diUMUg the four months it 




James Madison 



The Constitutional Convention 285 

was in session were not made public until the publication 
of these notes fifty years later. 

157. Making of the Constitution: (a) Decision as to 
Nature of JJ^ork. — Although their work was to be very im- 
portant, but few of the members had a definite idea of what they 
were to do, because the resolution which called the convention 
simply stated in a g'eneral way that the purpose was to provide 
a better central government for the United States. Some of 
the members were afraid that the people would not ratify 
a constitution that provided for 'a strong central government, 
and they therefore suggested that the work of the convention 
be restricted to revising the Articles of Confederation. Wash- 
ington, who had become thoroughly alarmed by the anarchy 
and rebellion of the past year, at once made "a brief but im- 
mortal speech, which ought to be blazoned in letters of gold, 
and posted on the wall of every American assembly that 
shall meet to nominate a candidate, or declare a policy, or 
pass a law, so long as the weakness of human nature shall 
endure. Rising from his president's chair, his tall figure 
drawn up to its full height, he exclaimed in tones unwontedly 
solemn with suppressed emotion, 'It is too probable that no 
plan we propose will be adopted. Perhaps another dreadful 
conflict is to be sustained. If, to please the people, we 
offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterward 
defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise 
and the honest can repair ; the event is in the hand of God.' " 
After this advice the convention decided to draw up a new 
constitution, and not to try to patch up the old one. 

(b) The Vii\^inia and Nezv Jersey Plans. — The delegates 
from Mrginia submitted an outline for a new constitution, 
which is known as the Virginia plan. This plan provided for 
a national legislature to consist of two houses, the lower house 
to be composed of members elected directly by the people, 
the number from each state to be determined by population or 
wealth. The members of the upper house were to be elected 
by the members of the lower house. In both houses each 
member was to have one vote, and the votes were not to be 
bv states, as was the case under the Articles of Confederation. 



286 The Critical Period 

The Virginia plan also provided for an executive and a judicial 
department. This plan would have given the large states 
much more power in the legislature than the small ones, and 
naturally the delegates from the small states would not consent 
to this. 

Patterson of New Jersey submitted what is known as the 
New Jersey Plan. It provided for a legislative, an executive, 
and a judicial department; but the legislative department was 
to consist of one house, to be composed of members elected 
by the states, and each state was to have the same number 
of votes. The central government would thus remain a mere 
league of the states, as was the case under the Articles of 
Confederation. The real object of this plan was to prevent 
the large states from having more power in the government 
than the small ones. 

(c) The Three Great Compromises. — The discussion of the 
Virginia and New Jersey plans lasted almost two months, and 
became so bitter that several times the convention came very 
nearly breaking up. Finally both sides agreed that the national 
legislature should consist of two houses. The lower house, 
called the House of Representatives, was to be composed of 
members elected directly by the people, and the number from 
a state was to be determined by the number of people in that 
state. The upper house, called the Senate, was to be composed 
of two members from each state, and they were to be elected 
by the state legislatures. In the upper house, therefore, the 
small states would have as nnich power as the large states, 
but in the lower house the larger states would have the more 
power, because a state with a large population would have 
many more delegates than a state with a small population. 
This agreement was the first great compromise of the conven- 
tion, and is known as the compromise between the large and 
small states. 

The second great compromise was between the northern and 
the southern states over the question as to whether slaves should 
be counted 'as population when apportioning taxes and deciding 
how many representatives or delegates a state should have 
in the lower branch of the legislature. The members from 



The Constitutional Convention 287 

the southern states wished all the slaves counted, while those 
from the northern states did not wish any of the slaves counted 
as population. The compromise on this point provided that 
when estimating population, five slaves should be counted as 
three white people. 

The third great compromise was on the question of commerce 
and the importation of slaves, and was, like the second one, 
between the northern and the southern states, but the South 
was not united in this case. All the southern states were 
opposed to giving the new government complete control of 
commerce. South Carolina and Georgia wished to have the 
right to continue the importation of slaves, but nearly all the 
other states were opposed to this. Finally the delegates from 
the far South and those from the North agreed that Congress 
should have complete control of commerce, and that slaves 
might be imported until 1808. Virginia strongly opposed both 
parts of this compromise, but it was adopted and made part 
of the Constitution. 

The other questions, regarding the legislative department 
and those relating to the executive and the judicial depart- 
ments, were carefully discussed, but they were all settled and 
agreed to without apy dispute between the North and South, 
or between the small and large states, for there were no con- 
flicting interests on these points. When the first compromise 
was adopted it was decided that there should be an executive 
and a judicial department, and the convention provided for 
them in the Constitution. Each of tlie three departments will 
be discussed more in <k'tail a little further 0^1. 

(d) Close of flic Constitutional Coni'ention. — On Septem- 
ber 17 the convention finished its labors. During the four 
months that it had been in session, it had framed the greatest 
constitution ever conceived. Its members seemed to feel this, 
and were profoundly impressed. On the last day, when all was 
finished, silence spread over the convention. "Washington sat 
with bowed head in silent meditation." Franklin felt that he 
had lived to see the dream of his life accomplished. Fiske 
says : "On the back of the president's quaint black armchair 
there was emblazoned a half-sun, brilliant with its gilded rays. 



288 



The Critical Period 



As the meeting was brcakins^ up and Washington arose, 
Frankhn pointed to the chair, and made it the text for 
])rophccv. 'As I have been sitting here all these weeks.' said 
he, '1 have often wondered wdiether yonder sun is rising or 
setting. But now I know that it is a rising sun.' " 




Signing of the Constitution, September 17, 1787 

Fi-oin an early unfinished picture. This shows the arranKenient of the 
room and the sun behind Washington's chair 



The Constitution 

158. Congress — the Senate and the House of Representa- 
tives. — As has already been stated, the new Constitution pro- 
vided for a national legislature. This legislature is called the 
Congress of the United States, and is composed of two 
houses, — a lower house, called the House of Representatives, 
and an upper house, called the Senate. The national legisla- 
ture was modeled very closely after the state legislatures, each 
of which was composed of two houses, and in many of the 
states the upper house was called the Senate and the lower 
one the House of Renresentatives. The members of the 



The Constitution 289 

national House of Representatives arc elected by the people for 
a term of two years, and in about the same way as the mem- 
bers of the state legislatures are elected. The new national 
government, therefore, acted upon each individual citizen, 
while the government under the Articles of Confederation acted 
upon the states. This is a most important difference. It 
makes our present central government a national government, 
while the old central government was simply a confederation 
of states. The members of the Senate are elected by the state 
legislatures for a term of six years. They represent the states, 
and not the people directly, and hence the Senate in this re- 
spect is much like what Congress was under the Articles of 
Confederation. Uecause the House of Representatives repre- 
sents the people directly, and the Senate does not, all bills or 
laws for levying taxes or raising revenue must begin or 
originate in the House. On the other hand, the Senate has 
the exclusive right to approve the appointments made by the 
President of the United States, and to help him make treaties 
with other nations. All the powers not granted to the national 
government by the Constitution, or prohibited to the states by 
it, still belong to the states or the people. The Constitution, 
however, conferred all the power necessary for a strong national 
government. Under its powers. Congress can declare war and 
make peace, raise and support armies, levy taxes, regulate 
commerce, and coin money. These powers made it possible 
for the new government to enforce its laws, and secure the 
respect of the American people and of foreign nations. 

159. The Executive Department. — The new Constitution 
created a strong executive de])artment. The officer at the 
head of this department is called the President of the United 
States. He is elected for a term of four years bv men selected 
in the different states especially for this purpose (see the 
Constitution of the United States). There is also a Vice 
President, who is elected in the same way. The Vice Presi- 
dent is presiding officer of the Senate, and if the President 
should die or be removed from office, or become unable to 
perform the duties of his office, the Vice President becomes 
President. The President is commander in chief of the army 



290 The Critical Period 

and navy of llic United Slates. In addition to otlier inii)ort- 
ant (lulics he must. defend the Constitution of llie United 
States ; execute, or carry out, the laws passed by Conc^ress ; 
appoint foreign ministers and make treaties with foreij^n 
nations; but all such ajipointments and treaties nutst be ratifK^l 
by the Senate. 

In order to assist the President with his ^real and im])ort- 
ant work, Conj^ress has, from time to time, created a number 
of executive departments. At the present time there are nine 
of these dej)artments. They are the Department of State, 
the 'JVeasury, War, Navy, Post Office, Interior. Justice, A<;ri- 
culture, and Commerce. At the head of each department is an 
officer called the Secretary, but the head of the Post Office 
Dci)artnient is called the Postmaster-j^i^eneral, and the head 
of the Department of justice is called the Attorney-j^eneral. 
Under each secretary is a lar^e number of men and women 
who help perform the duties of the department. The nine 
heads of de])artments comprise or constitute the President's 
Cabinet. The President often calls them toij^ether for advice 
and for the purpose of talking- over ])ublic matters. Such 
a meeting' is called a Cabinet Meeting:. The TVesident ap- 
jioints the nine heads of de])artments and many of the other 
more important officials in the de])artments. All appoint- 
ments made by the IVesident nmst be ratified by the Senate. 

In addition to these im])ortant executive duties, the T^'esidenl 
takes a very im])ortant part in lej^islation. lie can veto or 
object to an\- bill ])assed by Congress, and such bill will not 
tlun become a law miless each house of Congress as^ain passes 
it by a two-thirds vote. If the President signs .a bill passed 
by Congress, it becomes a law, and if he neglects to either 
sign or \eto it v^'ithin ten days ( Sundays excepted) after it 
is presented to him, it becomes a law, provided Congress is 
still in session. From all this it will be seen that the new 
Constitution created a very powerful executive department, 
where.as under the Articles of Confederation there was no 
executive department at all. 

160. The Judicial Department: (a) Name and Compo- 
sition of iJic J'arioifs Courts. — The new 'Constitution created 




Chiki- Ji;.STifE John Marsiiaix 
Kroiri till' poi-tialt ]>y Jjii-vIh, owiicfl hy JiiHllcf! Gray 



291 



292 The Critical Period 

a judicial department, which was to consist of a Supreme 
Court and of such inferior courts as Congress might estabhsh. 
By the wise legislation of Congress the judicial department 
has become of great importance in our government. At the 
head is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine judges or 
justices, one of whom is Chief Justice. The Chief Justice has 
no more power or authority than the other ei^ht justices, ex- 
cept that he may preside at the sessions of the court. Con- 
gress has also created a number of lower courts, called Circuit 
Courts, District Courts, the Court of Claims, and Circuit Court 
of Appeals. In order that the United States courts may better 
perform their duties, and in order to make it more convenient 
for the people who may have business in them, the United 
States is divided into a number of judicial districts. It is 
first divided into nine districts, sometimes called circuits, and 
each of these nine districts is divided into smaller districts. 
In addition to his duties as a member of the Supreme Court, 
which holds its meeting at Washington, each of the nine 
Justices is assigned to one of these nine districts, and he must 
hold a court, called Circuit Court, in his district at least every 
two years. There are from two to four circuit judges in each 
circuit to assist the Supreme Justice in holding these Circuit 
Courts. As stated above, each of the nine circuit districts is 
divided into smaller districts, and there is a separate judge for 
nearly all of these smaller districts. The district judge holds 
what is called a District Court. There is also what is called 
a Circuit Court of Appeals in each of the nine circuit districts. 
There are no separate judges for this court. It is held by the 
regular circuit judges of the circuit district and by the Justice 
of the Supreme Court assigned to that district. The Court of 
Claims is composed of five judges, and holds its meetings or 
sessions at Washington. All the judges of all these courts are 
appointed by the President, but each appointment must be 
confirmed by the Senate. They hold office for life, unless 
removed bv Congress for misconduct. It is the duty of all 
these courts to interpret and apply the laws that relate to the 
national governnient. 



The Constitution 293 

(b) Jurisdiction of tlic Several Courts. — The Constitution, 
the laws passed by Congress, and the treaties of the United 
States are interpreted and appHed by the regular United 
States courts. There are some questions or cases that can be 
t:"ied and decided only by the Supreme Court. A class of less 
important questions can be tried and decided first by the Cir- 
cuit Courts, and a class of still less important questions can be 
decided first in the District Courts. If a man thinks that some 
one is trying to deprive him of something to which he is 
entitled by the Constitution, or by a law passed by Congress, 
he can bring an action in any of the United States courts 
for the purpose of securing what belongs to him. If the case 
is one that must be tried first in a District Court, he must bring 
it before the court of the district in which he has been 
wronged. In many cases, if either party is not satisfied with 
the decision of this court, he may appeal to the Circuit Court ; 
if either party is not satisfied with the decision of the Circuit 
Court, he may appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeals ; and in 
many cases, if either party is not satisfied with the decision 
of the Court of Appeals, he may appeal to the Supreme Court, 
'^'he suit or case just discussed is one that is brought by a 
citizen ; but the United States through its officers may also 
bring suit against any one who violates either the Constitution 
or a law passed by Congress. 

The Court of Claims is really not a part of the regular 
judicial department. Sometimes the army of the United States 
or some of its officers are compelled to use or injure the 
property of a citizen, and because of circumstances may not 
be able to pay him for the same. As the United States can- 
not be sued, this man could not present his claim to any of the 
regular courts. He can bring the matter before the Court of 
Claims, however, and it can recommend to Congress that it 
pay him a certain amount. Congress then may exercise its 
own judgment, but it usually adopts the recommendations of 
the Court of Claims. 

(c) The Su/^reiiie Court. — In all cases the decision of the 
Supreme Court is final. Its decision and the decisions of the 
lower courts will be enforced, even if to do so requires the 



294 The Critical Period 

use of the entire army and navy of the United States. In 
deciding- a case, the Supreme Court may declare that some act 
of the President, or that some law which Congress has passed, 
is not in accord with the Constitution, and that therefore it 
is null and void. Thus it becomes plain that the Supreme 
Court interprets and applies the Constitution, and that in this 
important respect it is at the very head of the national govern- 
ment. The high character and ability of the Supreme Court 
have made it honored and respected all over the world. No 
other nation has a court which has such supreme power. In 
framing the legislative and executive departments of the new 
government, the Constitutional Convention simply applied to 
the national government the principles of government that 
already existed in the states and in England ; but when it gave 
to the Supreme Court the right to interpret the Constitution, 
and to set aside a law of Congress, it created a new principle of 
government, which is of the very greatest importance. 

i6i. Ratification of the Constitution. — The Constitutional 
Convention did its work well. It framed the best constitution 
for a national government that has ever been prepared by any 
body of men. lender it the United States has become one of the 
greatest and most prosperous nations of the world. To us it 
may seem that die different states would have been glad to 
ratify and adopt the excellent Constitution made by the conven- 
tion. r)Ut this was not the case. It seemed for a while that the 
new Constitution would never go into e'ft'ect. The Constitution 
itself ])rovi(lcd that it shf^uld not go into cff'ect until it had been 
ratified by at least nine of the states. After a lively debate the 
old Congress submitted the Constitution to the people of the 
various states. Then began one of the aljlcst and most remark- 
able campaigns in the history of America. During the four 
months that the convention was in secret session the people 
had become very anxious to know what kind of government it 
would propose. Many were afraid that the convention would 
provide for a government that would be dangerous to the 
rights of the people. Their experience with the English 
government made them afraid of a strong central government. 



The Constitution 295 

It was but natural, therefore, that when the new Constitution 
was printed and sent out through the states, many people 
should oppose its ratification. They asserted that the central 
government for which it provided was too strong, and that 
it would become unjust and overthrow the rights and liberties 
of the people. In most of the states the people soon became 
divided into two parties. Those who favored the ratification 
of the. Constitution were called Federalists, and those who 
opposed its ratification were called Anti-Federalists. 

The people did not vote directly on the ratification of the 
Constitution. It was ratified either by special conventions 
elected for that purpose or by the state legislatures. The 
greatest contests were in New York, Massachusetts, and 
Virginia. Hamilton and Madison were the leaders of those 
who favored the ratification of the Constitution. One paper 
published eighty-five articles, all of which favored strongly the 
ratification of the new Constitution. These articles were later 
published in book form and are known as "The Federalist." 
They constitute, perhaps, the ablest discussion of government 
ever written. They had a profound effect on the people, and 
turned the tide in favor of the Constitution. They were 
written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, most of them being 
written by Hamilton. In the New York convention this man 
was a tower of strength. Governor Clinton was strongly 
opposed to the Constitution, but Hamilton for weeks argued 
almost every day for its ratification. After a magnificent con- 
test he was successful. On July 26, 1788, New York ratified 
the Constitution, but by the narrow majority of three votes. 
The contest in Massachusetts and Virginia had been almost 
as strong and close. After more than three weeks of debating, 
the Massachusetts convention in February, 1788, ratified the 
Constitution by the close vote of one hundred eighty-seven to 
one hundred sixty-eight. Madison led the fight for the Con- 
stitution in Virginia, and on June 25 of the same year that 
state approved of the new plan of government, the vote being 
eighty-nine to seventy-nine. While nine states had already 
ratified the Constitution, the new Government, without the 
support of Virginia and New York, would very likely not 



296 The Critical Period 

have been a success. New York was the eleventh state to 
take favorable action, and in so doin*:^ removed the last doubt 
regardin_£i^ the success of the work done by the Constitutional 
Convention. 

162. Organization of the New Government. — By the rati- 
fication of the new Constitution the government which had been 
created by the Articles of Confederation came to an end. 
Electors to elect the first President of the United States were 
chosen on the first Wednesday of January. 1789. They were 
to choose a President on the first Wednesday in February, and 
Congress was to meet on the first Wednesday in March and 
count the vote for President as provided in the Constitution. 
But Congress did not organize until April G. As New York 
did not choose electors, and as North Carolina and Rhode 
Island had not yet ratified the Constitution, there were but 
sixty-nine electoral votes for 1 'resident. Washington received 
every one, and thus became the first President of the United 
States. John Adams received the next largest number and 
became the first \ ice President. Congress at once began to 
organize the dififerent departments of government in accord- 
ance with the Constitution. It passed laws organizing the 
courts of the judicial department. It also passed laws organiz- 
ing the executive or cabinet departments of state, the treasury, 
war, and justice. The department of justice was not fully 
organized until later, and the other cabinet departments have 
all been created since then. Washington appointed Jefferson 
the first Secretary of State, Hamilton the first Secretary of the 
Treasury, Knox the first Secretary of War, and Randolph the 
first Attorney-general. Thus came to an end the Critical 
Period of American history, and thus went into effect the 
present Constitution of the United States. 



Questions and Topics 297 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 

THE CRITICAL PERIOD 

Questions for Class Rpxitations 

Why may the time between 1783 and 1789 be called "The Criti- 
cal Period of American History"? Describe the nature of the 
national government during the Revolution until the adoption of 
the Articles of Confederation in 1781. Describe the nature of the 
national government provided for by the Articles of Confederation. 
In what way did the Articles of Confederation assist to bring 
about the bad condition of affairs that existed during the Critical 
Period? During this i)eriod why were the i)Cf)ple opposed to 
creating a strong central gDvernnicnt? 

To what territory did the Ordinance of 1787 apply? Describe 
in full the government provided for by this ordinance. Discuss 
the importance of this ordinance with regard to slavery and the 
government of the territories of the United States. Describe fully 
the conditions of money and business during the Critical Period. 
What brought about these conditions? Give a careful discussion 
of the more important results of these conditions. Describe fully 
what is meant by "Anarchy and Rebellion" during the Critical 
Period. How did this threaten the life of the nation? How did 
these disturbances assist in preparing the way for the adoption of 
a strong central government? 

Describe fully the events leading to the Constitutional Conven- 
tion. Tell what you can about the men that composed the con- 
vention. How was the convention organized? Did the conven- 
tion exceed the purpose for which it was called? Describe fully 
each of the three great compromises of the convention. (In study- 
ing the national government in accordance with the questions 
which follow, the pupil should make constant use of the Constitu- 
tion.) For how many departments of government did the new 
Constitution provide? ■Comi)are this plan of government with that 



298 The Critical I^eriod 

wliifli rxistod dmiiiK cnloiiial limes and alM> willi that wliicli exists 
ill tlu- st;itt's at tlic present time, Descrihe in a j;eneral way tlic 
leRislalivc deparlmi-nt erealed l)y tlie Constituticm. W'liat powers 
and dnties l)e]on)4 to tlie llnu>e ol" Representatives tliat do not be- 
long? to the Senate? W liat are the reasons for this? Wliat pow- 
ers and duties behiujj: to the Senate that i\n not l)elongf to tlic 
House of Representatives? Wliat are llie reasons for tliis? De- 
scribe tlie jj^eneral jxnvers and duties of Conjjress. How arc sena- 
tors and rei)resi'utatives elected? What is the reason for having a 
senator's term of office loni-er than thai of a representative's? 
l')escrilie in a t^i'iieral way the ext'cntixc department ereati'd by the 
Constitution. How art- the F'resident and \'ice President of the 
Ignited States elected, and for how loni^ a term? Describe in full 
the President's Caliinet and its .mMieral ixnvers and duties, l^e- 
scrilie fully the }j;eiieral powers and duties of the President. What 
l)ower h;is the President in le|j:islation ? \\'hat are the duties of 
the Vice Presidi'iit? Describe in a .m^u'ral way the judicial dejiart- 
ment created by tlie Constitution. Describe brielly the different 
classes of ITnited States courts. Discuss tlic {.general powers and 
duties of the judicial depaitment. ('omi);ire with rej^ard to its 
power the Supreme Court of the United States with the supreme 
courts of other nations. 

When the Constitution was submittt'd to the people for their ap- 
proval, why were many opposed to its ratification? K.xplain fully 
wdiat is meant by Federalist and .Xnti-Fcderalist durinpf the cam- 
paifjn for the ratification of the Constitution. Who were some of 
the leading Federalists and Anti-Federalists? Who wTOte "The 
Federalist," and wliat was its efTect on the campaign for the ratifi- 
cation of the Constitution? Discuss briefly the campaign wdiicli 
resulted in the ratification of the Constitution. Discuss the organ- 
i/.ition of the lU'w government. 

QlTE.STIONS 1"0!< CoMrOSITIONS AND Fx.WIINATIONS 

Discuss the nature i^f the national government during the Criti- 
cal Period. Discuss the conditions of the country during the Criti- 
cal Period. Discuss the Ordinance of 17S7. Discuss the event.s 



Questions and Topics 299 

which led to the Constitutional Convention. Explain fully the 
three great compromises. Discuss the national government pro- 
vided for by the Constitution. Discuss the ratificatioti of the Con- 
stitution. 



AMERICA 

My country, "t is of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, 

Of thee I sing; 
Land where my fathers died, 
Land of the Pilgrims' pride 
From every mountain side 

Let freedom ring. 

My native country, thee, 
Land of the noble free. 

Thy name \ love; 
1 love thy rocks and rills. 
Th^' woods and templed hills; 
My heart with rapture thrills 

Like that above. 

Let music swell the breeze, 
And ring from all the trees 

Sweet freedom's song; 
Let mortal tongues awake; 
Let all that breathe partake; 
Let rocks their silence break, 

The sound prolong. 

Our fathers' God, to Thee, 
Author of liberty. 

To Thee we sing; 
Long may our land be bright 
With' freedom's holy light; • 

Protect us by Thy might. 

Great God, our King. 

— Samuel F. Smith 



NATIONAL GROWTH AND EUROPEAN 
INTERFERENCE 



NATIOxXAL GROWTH AND EURO- 
PEAN INTERFERENCE 

THE PERIOD OF EUROPEAN IXTERFERENXE 

I. The Origin of American Xentrality in European Affairs 

II. The Jay Treaty 

III. The Broach with France 

1\'. Tlie -Mien and Sedition .\cts 

\'. The \'irginia and Kentucky Resohuions 

\ I. The I'nrcha.-ic oi Louisiana 

\ 11. ICnropean Interference with American Commerce 
T. Conditions in Europe. 1803-1815 

2. Decrees and Orders in Council 

3. The Embargo Policy of Jefferson 

\'11I. The War of 181'J. or tlie War for Commercial Independence 

1. Causes 

2. The American .\rmy and Xavy. 
,^ The ^\'ar on Land 

4. The War on Sea 

5. Results 

IX. Tlie Hartford Convention 

X. Purchase of Florida 

XI. The Monroe Doctrine 

XI 1. I'.nd of the Period of I'.uropean Interference 

l-IXAXCLM. LEGlSLATk^X: THE TARIFF 

1. Hamilton's I-inancial Measures 
1. Tariff Duties 
J. Excise 

.V Founding of the National Debt 
4. .\ssumption of State Debts 
5 Establishment of the United States Bank 



The Period ot European Interference 301 

Tl. Jefferson and Gallatin's I'^inancial Policy 

III. The United States Bank and State Banks 

IV. Tariff T.egislation 

1. The First Tariff Act 

2. Growth of the Idea of Protection 

POLITICAL PARTIES 
I. Rise of Political Parties 
IT. The Federalist Party: its Rise and Fall 
III. Tlie Republican Party: its Rise and Fall 

GROWTH OF THE NATION 
I. Growth in Territory and Population 
II. Movement of Popidation — Causes and Direction 

III. Results of Westward E.xpansion 

1. Formation of New States 

2. Internal Improvements 

3. Struggle over Slavery: the Missouri Compromise 

IV. Growth of National Unity 

INSTITUTIONAL LIFE 

I. Industrial Conditions 

1. Manufactures 

2. .\griculture 

3. Commerce, Transportation, and Communication 

4. Inventions and Discoveries 

II. Social Conditions 

III. Government 

TV. Religion 

\\ Education 



302 National Growth and European Interference 



Introductory 

163. Two Periods of History. — The history of the United 
States from the time the new government was organized in 
1789 to the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 may be divided 
into tw'o periods. The first period extends from 1789 to about 
1828, and the second from about 1828 to the Civil War. This 
division is based on strictly historical grounds. The history 
of the United States during these periods was shaped and 
controlled by many forces and conditions, but in each period 
certain causes and conditions stand out clearly as the determin- 
ing factors in its history. 

(a) Main Forces and Conditions of Each Period. — During 
the greater part of the first period the interference of foreign 
nations in the affairs of the United States had a profound 
effect on our history. A large part of the legislation of Con- 
gress related either directly or indirectly to this interference. 
This constant meddling in our affairs by Europe led finally to 
another war with England, which secured for the United 
States the proper respect and consideration of all the other 
nations. The main or controlling force in the history of the 
United States during the second period was the question of 
slavery in its relation to the westward growth of the nation 
in territory and population. During both periods the growth 
of the United States in territory, wealth, and population was 
most rapid and important ; but the main question in relation to 
this growth during the first period was European interference, 
and the main question during the second period was slavery. 
During the first period, however, slavery was quietly becom- 
ing more and more firmly established in the South, but the 
pressure of foreign nations on the United States and the man- 
ner in which the western country was settled kept this question 
fairly quiet. The opposition to Europe during the first period 
tended to unite the American people and to create in them a 
partriotism and love for the nation and the national govern- 
ment, and to break down the idea of state sovereignty that 



The Period of European Interference 303 

existed when the Constitution was adopted. Durini^; this first 
period, however, shivery was quietly causins^' the social and 
the industrial conditions of the North and South to become 
more and more unlike, and during the second period this re- 
sulted in bitter discussions that ended in the American Civil 
War. It therefore becomes plain that the controlling forces 
or conditions in the history of the Ignited States from 17S9 to 
about 1828 were European interference in our atTairs and the 
rapid growth of the nation in territory and population, and that 
the controlling force or condition in our history from about 
IS'^S to 18(51 was the slavery question in relation to this con- 
tinued rapid growth o| the nation along these same lines. 
Hence, the first period will be called National Growth and 
European Interference, and the second period. Westward Ex- 
pansion and Slavery. 

(b) Bco^iiining of Xc^v Conditions. — There are two other 
important reasons why the time about 1828 may be considered 
as making the end of a period in the nation's history. These 
were the election of Jackson and the revolution in industrial 
conditions which took place about that time. Democratic ideas 
had been spreading among the people, but before the election 
of Jackson the government had been controlled largely by the 
educated and wealthier classes. His election was the triumph 
of the common people. During his administration there was 
a revolution in political methods. It was then that the Spoils 
System, the national nominating convention, and popular poli- 
tical campaigns were introduced into national politics. 

The industrial revolution which took jilace about 1828 was of 
even greater importance than the political revolution just noted. 
Before that time the sewing machine, the reaper, the threshing' 
machine, and the railroad liad not come into use. S(«~)n after 
Jackson's election these and many other valuable inventions 
were made. The use of this valuable machinery and the revo- 
luti(in in transportation and communication caused by the 
railroad and telegraph worked a profound change in the indus- 
trial and social life of the people. The many important forces 
and conditions which either terminated or originated about 
1828 marked the beginning of a new period in our history. 




George Washington 



304 



The Period of European Interference 305 



ri-Rion OF la'RorKAN ix ri'ui-i'ui'xci-: 



104. Origin of American Neutrality in European Affairs: 
(a) 77h' PrcncJi Ri^zolution. — When W ashinoton booamc tho 
first Prosidoiu of the I'tiiteU States, the people of h^-aiice did 
not jiovern tlieniselves as ihil the Aiiierieans. Dnriui;- the 
several hundred years before that time the l-'reneh people did 
not have the rij^ht to help make their laws or assist in earr\ inq; 
on their i^overnment. The kini;" and his ministers and nobles 
governed bVanee without eonsidering' the wishes and desires 
of the people. The taxes were so hii;h that thousands of the 
common people starved to death every year, while the nobles 
lived in luxury and wasted the money unjustly taken ffom 
the people. In no great nation since the fall of Rome were the 
people oppressed so cruelly as were those of France during all 
these years. The peasants were driven from their homes 
because they could not pay the high rents and taxes imposed 
on them. Men antl women who had committed no crime were 
often thrown into prison auil put to death without trial. It 
was but natural that the people should hate a government that 
oppressed them in this way. and that they should desire to 
destroy it. The French knew of the American Revolution, 
and knew that the Americans had established a government 
which they controlled and under the laws of which every 
person had equal rights. French soldiers and French money 
had helped the Americans iluring the Revolution, and the 
French were therefore specially interested in the government 
of the United States. The example of the young republic 
of the New World helped to cause the people of France to 
attemjM \o destroy their imjust and oppressive government. 
In KS;i they began what is known in history as the French 
Revolution. This was a most bloody civil war. The peojtle 
defeated the armies of the king, destroyed the government, 
and beheaded both the king and queen. Thousands of the 
nobles were beheaded. In Faris. women and cirls brought 



306 National Growth and European Interference 

their sewing and knitting to the place of execution, and while 
they sewed and knit, kept a record of the number beheaded by 
counting each h.ead as it dropped into the basket. These and 
many similar acts shocked and horrified all Europe, but they 
were the natural result of the long years of oppression which 
the French people had suffered at the hands of their king and 
his nobles. 

(b) IVar between Eiigland and France; Sentiment in 
America. — The rulers of the other nations of Europe became 
alarmed, however, at what was taking place in France. The 
policy of the new French government caused war to break out 
between France and England. This was in 1793, less than 
three years after the new government of the United States was 
organized, and but ten years after the end of the American 
Revolution. The people of France expected the people of the 
United States to help them in this war. They expected this 
because they had helped the Americans during the Revolution, 
and because thev now, like the Americans then, were fighting 
for the right to make the laws and control the government 
under which they lived. The French people were not mis- 
taken in the desire of the Americans to help them. Genet, an 
agent of the French government, came to the United States 
for the purpose of securing assistance for France in her war 
with England. Genet, called "Citizen Genet." before present- 
ing to Washington his papers of appointment, called cre- 
dentials, held meetings in several states and worked iip great 
enthusiasm for the French cause. The Americans organized 
clubs for the assistance of France ; wore the French cockade 
or tricolor on their hats ; and addressed one another as 
"Citizen." as had become the custom in France. The people 
all over the Ignited States, in mass meetings and through the 
press, urged and demanded that the government assist France. 

Rut for the United States to do this meant the destruction 
of American commerce and war with English and Indians 
along the frontier. Of far more importance, however, was the 
fact that for the Ignited States to meddle in a war between 
France and England, in which she had rio special interest, would 
set an example that would cause her to become involved in 



The Period of European Interference 307 

many other European quarrels and wars which did not directly 
affect American affairs. The time had come thus early in her 
history when the new nation was called upon to decide whether 
she would take part in European affairs which did not concern 
her particularly, and which nuist result in the frequent destruc- 
tion of her commerce and in the useless loss of her best men 
or whether she would remain neutral. 

(c) American Ncitfrality Proclaimed. — Washington clearly 
foresaw the vast importance of this decision, and after mature 
deliberation he announced in a proclamation that the policy of 
the United States should be non-interference in European 
affairs. This decision marked him as a statesman of the 
highest rank. The people in general denounced the procla- 
mation and demanded that France be given assistance ; but 
the President, with a courage equal to that which he had shown 
on many a battlefield, held to his purpose calmly, and was 
finally sustained by Congress. Thus was born American 
Neutrality in European Affairs. The United States has ever 
since adhered steadfastly to this principle. The importance 
of this principle or unwritten law can hardly be overestimated. 
It has saved this nation from many a bloody and useless war, 
and has permitted it to develop its great natural resources un- 
molested by European cjuarrels and conflicts. At the sugges- 
tion of Washington and under his wise direction, the United 
States established the unwritten law that she would not inter- 
fere with those affairs of Europe which did not directly con- 
cern her. Thirty years later, during Monroe's administration, 
she established the unwritten law, called the Monroe Doctrine, 
which denies to any European nation the right to interfere 
with strictly American affairs unless directly concerned. 

165. The Jay Treaty: (a) Rule of IT-ld; Ri^^hf of 
Search. — The next serious foreign questions which the new 
government was called upon to deal with were the disagree- 
ments and misunderstandings with England. The Treaty of 
17S3, which brough the Revolution to an end, left some im- 
portant questions unsettled, and neither the United States nor 
Great Britain had carried out in good faith some of the pro- 
visions of that treaty. The war between England and France 



308 National Growth and European Interference 

had j^iven rise to other (hfficuUics. The Kn.qlish insisted on 
enforcing- what is known as the "Rule of ITof]." which pro- 
vided that a neutral nation could not enjoy in time of war 
a trade prohibited in time of peace. For instance : the Ameri- 
cans were not allowed by France to trade with the French 
West Indies in time of peace, but when the war broke out with 
England, the French were glad to open their West India ports 
to American commerce for the sake of obtaining supplies. By 
the Rule of IT-'iC. which Great P.ritain now ]^ut in force, this 
trade was forbidden to Americans^ and thus their commerce 
was greatly injured. This action and the refusal of the Eng- 
lish to surrender all the forts on the frontier as provided by 
the Treaty of 17S,o, and their attempts to induce the Indians 
to attack the Americans, created in the United States a strong 
feeling against England. 

But what created the strongest feeling against her was her 
claim that she had the right to search American vessels any- 
where on the seas, and to take English sailors by force from 
such vessels and compel them to work on British ships. This 
is known as "The Right of Search" and the impressment of 
British sailors. It often happened' that the English officers 
when searching American vessels would claim that American 
sailors were Englishmen, and as a result many native-born 
American citizens were forced on board British vessels and 
compelled to serve in the British navy. 

(b) Terms of the Treaty: Reception by Americans. — The 
whole attitude of the English government toward the United 
States during this period was one of insult and humiliation. 
Congress and the people were about ready to go to war wdth 
England. Washington felt that a war at that time might be 
very serious to the new nation, and hence decided to make one 
more attempt to settle the various questions in dispute peace- 
fully. He appointed John Jay. who was then Chief Justice of 
the United States, a special minister to England, and in- 
structed him to proceed to London and to arrange a treaty 
with the English government if possible. A treaty was 
■ prepared in 1704. >It did not properly protect the interests 
and dignity of the United States. England refused to 



I 



The Period of European Interference 309 

s;ivc up the rig^ht to search American vessels for British sailors, 
and by the terms of the treaty American commerce would 
continue to sufifer. The treaty settled many questions, how- 
ever, and Washington thought it better to accept it than to 
go to war. He therefore recommended that the Senate ratify 
it, which that body did in 17!)5 by a very close vote. When, 
the terms of the treaty became public, the people and the press 
denounced W^ishington and Jay most severely. Washington 
felt very much hurt at the attacks on his character, and 
declared that the language used by some of the papers in these 
attacks "could scarcely be applied to a Nero, to a notorious 
defaulter, or even to a common jMckpocket." The treaty was 
certainly bad for the interests of the Americans and for the 
dignity of the young nation, and could prove but a temporary 
settlement of the troubles. Ihit it was wise, perhaps, to adopt 
the treaty and thus to postpone the war imtil the United States 
was better prepared. 

166. The Breach with France: (a) Effect of the Jay 
Treaty. — One result of the Jay Treaty was to increase the 
feeling in France against the Ignited States. By the treaty 
which the United vStatcs made with France after the surrender 
of Burgoyne in 1778, each agreed to assist the other if at- 
tacked by another nation. When war broke out between 
France and Fngland in 1793. the French government did not 
ask the American government to comply with the terms of 
that treaty. This was due largely to the fact that the govern- 
ment then in power in France had destroyed the government 
which made the treaty with the United States. The French 
people, however, did not like the way Washington had treated 
Genet., although the lattcr's official conduct toward the United 
States was very improper. They thought that the refusal of 
the United States to help them in their war with Fngland and 
other nations of Europe was a poor return for the assistance 
which the Americans had received during their Revolution. 
The Jay Treaty was valuable to the commerce of Fngland 
and injurious to the commerce of France. When this treaty 
became known in France, it created great indignation against 
the United States. The French said that the Americans had 

23 



3IO National Growth and European Interference 

not only refused to assist them, but l)y this treaty they injured 
France and assisted En_s:land. The feeHng in France against 
the United States became so strong that when Pinckney, the 
new American minister to France, arrived in Paris in 1797, 
the French cfovernment refused to receive him. 




John Adams 

(b) Attempt to bribe American Commissioners. — The re- 
fusal to receive the American minister was a very serious 
ofifense to the United States, but President Adams, who became 
President March I. 1T!H;, at the end of Washington's term, 
was anxious to avoid war. and so appointed Elbridge Gerry and 
John Marshall to join Pinckney in Europe. These three men 
were instructed to try to make a treaty with France that would 
preserve peace between the two nations. When they reached 



The Period of European Interference 311 

Paris, France was under a form of government called the 
Directory. Instead of receiving the American commissioners 
in the proper way, the Directory sent three agents to meet 
them. These agents told the Americans that before they 
would be received by the French government they must, 
among other things, pay about two hundred fifty thousand dol- 
lars to certain members of the Directory. This was really 
asking for a bribe. The American commissioners refused to 
comply with the request, and reported the entire matter to 
President Adams. In his report to Congress Adams did not 
give the names of the three agents who had asked a bribe of 
the American commissioners for the Directory, but referred to 
them as X, Y, and Z, and hence this affair is sometimes called 
the X, Y, Z Affair. The publication of the report in the 
United States created great indignation. The press and the 
people demanded that war be declared against France for the 
insult which she had offered the nation. 

(c) IVar zvith France Averted. — Congress ordered the 
rapid building of new war vessels, and at once prepared to 
raise an army. Washington was made commander in chief, 
and Congress was preparing to declare war. Fighting had 
actually begun on the sea. Two French vessels were captured, 
one defeated, and many French merchant vessels were either 
destroyed or captured. The determination of the Americans 
to go to war, and this decided success of the American navy, 
was a great surprise to France. As she was at war with 
nearly all the nations of Europe, she could ill afford to engage 
in a war with the United States also. The French govern- 
ment, therefore, informed the American Minister to The 
Netherlands that it would now be glad to receive commis- 
sioners from the United States. As Adams was very anxious 
to maintain peace, he appointed three more commissioners. 
Before they reached Paris the Directory had been overthrown, 
and Napoleon was at the head of the French government. 
The commissioners were well received, and a treaty was made 
in 1800 which settled everything satisfactorily to both nations. 

167. The Alien and Sedition Acts. — The Federalist party 
was the first political jxirty to secure control of the national 



;i2 Xiitional Growth and European Interterence 

goveniment. Among the leaders of this party were \\'ash- 
ington. Adanis. and Hamilton. The Federalist party had con- 
trol of the goveniment during the two administrations of 
Washington and the administration of Adams. During this 
period the Anti-Federalist or Republican party was opposed 
to the Federalist party. Among the leaders of the Republican 
party wore JetYerson. Madison, and Monroe. The finn. 
patriotic stand which President Adams and the Federalist 
party took when the French goveniment demanded a bribe 
of the American commissioners who had been sent to Paris 
to make a treaty made that party very popular with the 
people. But all this was soon to be changed. Some of the 
speakers and newspapers that supported the Republican party 
had denoimced the Federalist party and its leaders most 
severely, very much as the speakers and newspapers of a party 
to-day denoimce the opposite party. \\'ashington had com- 
plained bitterly of the personal attacks made on him during his 
two administrations. 

Wlien the Federalist party foimd itself very popular witli 
the people as a result of the firm stand which it had taken 
agTiinst France, its leaders in Congress proceeded to enact 
several laws which thoy hoped would prevent the speakers and 
newspapers of the Republican party from making these severe 
criticisms. These laws are known as the Alien and Sedition 
Acts, and were passetl by Congress in IT OS. There were three 
laws passed against aliens or foreigners. The first one made 
it necessary for an alien to live in the United States fourteen 
years before he could become an American citizen, whereas 
before the time required was but five years: the second one 
g^ve the President the power to send out of the I^'nitetl States 
any alien whom he might deem dangerous to the peace and 
safety of the nation, and if such person returned, he might be 
imprisoned : by the third law against aliens, the President 
might, in time of war. arrest, imprison, and deport all natives 
or subjects of the nation with which the I'nited States was at 
war. 

The setlition act or law gave the President the power to 
imprison and fine aliens and American citizens who should 



The Period of European Interterence 313 

speak or publish, or cause to be spoken or published, anything" 
of a seditious or treasonable nature against the government, 
or even anything which would tend to defame the govern- 
ment or any of its officers. The Sedition Act was aimed at 
the speakers and newspapers of the Republican party, and this 
was also true of the Alien Acts, because many of the Republi- 
can speakers and editors of Republican papers v.'ere foreigii- 
born and had not yet become American citizens. \o at- 
tempt was ever made to enforce the last two of the Alien acts, 
but a few were imprisoned and fined under the Sedition Act. 
These laws created a storm of indignation against the Federal- 
ist party. All of these laws except the first Alien Act expired 
in 1801. Their passage marks the first and last attempt of 
the national government to interfere with freedom of speech 
and liberty of the press. 

168. The Virginia and Kentuckj'^ Resolutions. — One of 
the important resolutions of the Alien and Sedition Acts was 
the passage of certain resolutions by the legislatures of 
X'irginia and Kentucky. These resolutions are known as the 
Mrginia and Kentucky Resolutions, those of Mrginia being- 
passed in ITOS and those of Kentucky in 1T90. The Kentucky 
resolutions were written by Jefferson, and the Mrginia reso- 
lutions by Madison. Jefferson and Madison saw that the 
passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts was an attempt on the 
part of the leaders of the Federalist party to injure the 
Republican party, and they hoped that the passage of resolu- 
tions against these laws by the legislatures of the diff'erent 
states would create among the people a strong feeling against 
the Federalist party. The \'irginia and Kentucky Resolutions 
declared that the Constitution of the United States is simplv a 
contract between the different states, and that the national 
government can pass no law unless it is given power in the 
contract — th.at is. the Constitution — to pass such law. Of 
course if Congress passes a law which the Constitution does 
not give it power to pass, that law is luiconstitutional and the 
Supreme Court of the I'nitefl States can declare it null and 
void ; but the Kentucky resolutions declared that each state had 
the power to declare a national law unconstitutional and to 



;i4 National Cirowth and European Interterence 

set it aside, while the Xirginia resohuions declared that all tlie 
states acting: together cxmld do this. It the principles advo- 
cated by either set of these resolutions had been carried out, 
it wvHild have taken away from the Supreme Court the power 
granted it by the Constitution and would thus, in substance at 
least, have Kxni a violation of that dvxnunent. The legislatures 
of the northern states condenuied the resolutions and they re- 
ceiveil no supjK»rt fn>in the legislattires of the other southern 
states. The \irginia and Keiuucky Resolutions are of great 
inipi.^rtance Ixx^ause they were the first definite statement of the 
doctrine of state rights as oppose^! to national sovereignty. 
Jefferson and Madison, very likely, never intended that the 
principles stated in these resolutions should be carried out in 
practice, but had them j>asseil for the purpose of checking 
Congress in its tendency to pass laws which were not con- 
stitutional, and especially for the purpose of calling the at- 
tention of the ^xx^ple to the Alien and Sevlition Acts in the 
hope that the Fcvieralist party might be injured. In this 
respect the resolutions were a success. 

169. The Purchase of Louisiana: {a) Comnu-rcial Im- 
f*ortancc of tlw Mississif^N. — Most of the goods exported and 
importevi by the pev^ple who livevi l>etween the .\lleghanies and 
the Mississippi were sent to Eurojx* and to the eastern states 
down the Mississippi River by way of Xew Orleans. In order 
that the An\ericans might export goods by the way of the 
Mississippi, it was necessar\- for them tv> have some place at 
tlie mouth of the river near Xow Orleans where tlie gocnls 
could be unloaded fn^n the river Kvits and placeil on the 
ocean vessels, and in importing gxxxis it was also necessary to 
have svMue such place in onler that they might be transferred 
frvMU the ocean vessels to the river Kvits. The I'nitetl States 
did not own the territory on either side of the mouth of the 
Mississippi, and the .\merican settlers in the Mississippi Val- 
ley, therefore. c^Mild not exp^^rt and imp^^rt gvxxls by way of 
the Mississippi unless the nation to which the land at the 
mouth of the river belongeil gnftiteil to the I'niteil States per- 
mission for Americans to Kx\d anvl unload gxxxis on the banks 
of the Mississinn: within the reach of ^vean vessels. The 



The Period of European Interference 3 i 5 

territory of Louisiana, which inchided the territory on both 
sides of the mouth of the Mississippi, had belonged to Spain 
since 171)3. 

(b) TJic RigJit of Deposit; France Acquires Louisiana. — 
In 1795 Spain, in a treaty made with the United States, granted 
to the Americans the right to load and unload goods at certain 
places in her territory on the banks of the Mississippi, that were 
within reach of ocean, vessels. This right which Spain granted 
to the I.^nited States is known as the Right of Deposit. To the 
settlers west of the Alleghanies it was a most important right, 
because without it their commerce would be almost ruined. 
So long as Louisiana belonged to Spain, the Americans had 
little to fear, because Spain at that time was not a very strong 
nation, and if she did not grant the Westerners the proper 
rights regarding commerce, tlie territorv could be taken from 
her by force of arms. This was soon to be changed, however, 
for by a treaty nuule in ISOO Spain ceded all of Louisiana to 
France, but this treaty was not made pu1)lic imtil two years 
later. The people of the ignited States, and especially those of 
the West, became thoroughly alarmed when they learned that 
France had secured this territory. France, imder the control 
of Napoleon, had become a great and aggressive nation. She 
might establish a great empire in the New World, and might 
seriously interfere with the development of the United States. 
All thoughtful American statesmen saw that the L^nited States, 
sooner or later, would be compelled to go to war with France 
if the latter continued to hold Louisiana. Jefferson, who be- 
came President on March 4, 1801, at the end of Adams's term, 
was one of those who saw this plainly. Although he loved 
peace and had always been friendly to the French, he at once 
decided to make an alliance with England if necessary, and 
to join her in a war against France. Soon after it became 
known in America that France had secured Louisiana, and 
just before its final transfer, the Spanish governor at New 
Orleans denied to the Americans the "Right of Deposit." The 
people of the West at once determined that the only outlet for 
their foreign trade should not be closed. They threatened to 
march to New Orleans and take possession of the territory 



3 1 6 National Growth and European Interference 

along' the Mississippi. If the government would not protect 
them, they threatened to ask England for proteetion. It thus 
became necessary for the govcmnient to do something at once. 

(c) Purchase of the Territory. — Jefferson was very anxious 
to settle the matter peaceably if possible, and for this purpose 
he sent Monroe to France with instructic^ns to join the Ameri- 
can Minister in Paris, and to try to buy the territory lying along 
the east bank of the Mississippi from the territory of the 
United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Napoleon at first re- 
fused to sell, but the failure of a French expedition to San 
Domingo, and the almost certain renewal of war with England, 
caused him to change his mind. He soon oflfered to sell to the 
L'nited States not only the land at the mouth of the Mississippi, 
but the whole of Louisiana. lie was probably afraid that 
England might get possession of this territory, and if France 
nuist lose it, he preferred that it should belong to the Ameri- 
cans. Its sale and transfer to the United States took place in 
1803. The price paid for this rich and valuable domain was 
oidy fifteen million dollars. 

170. European Interference with American Commerce: 
(a) Co)iditions in Biirof^e, ISOo-lSlo. — Froiij 1S03 to 1815 
England and France were engaged in war with each other 
almost continuously. In fact, during most of this time, France 
was at war with nearly all the other nations of Europe. In 
1804 Xapoleon became Emperor of France, and thus came to 
an end the French Revolution, which began in 1T8;">, the year 
in which Washington was. first elected President. Xapoleon 
soon dofcaicd the armies of Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, and 
Russia. W ith the exception of Russia he practically controlled 
all of these nations, and Russia was forced to comply with 
many of his wishes. England was the only nation in Europe 
that successfully opposed the arbitrary will and the unjust, un- 
safe, and despotic ambitions of Xapoleon. England controlled 
the seas, and was therefore secure from invasion : but she was 
not in condition to land troops in France and attack X'apoleon 
on land with much hope of success. The great struggle be- 
tween Fjigland and Xapoleon during the years from 1803 to 
isr.^ involved every civilized nation of importance except the 




Thomas Jefkekson 



317 



3 I S National Growth and European Interference 

United States, and in 1812 the United States went to war with 
England because of conditions growing out of this great 
European war. She should have gone to war with either 
France or Kngland a long time before this, because of the 
insults and huniilation which France and England heaped upon 
the United States during the greater part of this period. 

(b) Decrees a)id Orders in Council; the Blockade Ques- 
tion. — As France could not fight England on the seas, and as 
England could not fight France on land, each tried to injure the 
other by destroying her commerce. The English government, by 
proclamations called "Orders in Council." declared all the ports 
of France and those ports of the rest of Europe which France 
controlled, in a state of blockade. Xapoleon, by proclamations 
called "Decrees," declared all the ports of England in a state of 
blockade. The United States has always maintained that a port 
is not blockaded unless war vessels are actually present at that 
port and actually blockade it. France and England did not 
actually blockade the ports which they declared blockaded, and 
the Americans therefore claimed the right to trade with all the 
nations of Europe. Both France and England denied to the 
Americans the right to do this, and both at once began to 
capture and destroy American merchant vessels. 

This resulted in a great injury to American commerce, 
vessels and goods worth many millions of dollars being either 
captured or destroyed. English war vessels would wait just 
outside of American ports and capture American vessels before 
they had scarcely started for Europe. In addition to these 
insults England was stopping and searching more American 
vessels and impressing more American citizens into the British 
navy than ever before. In 1807 the British war ship Lcof^ard 
even fired upon the American war ship Chesapeake, and com- 
pelled her commander to surrender three American citizens and 
one British subject, all of whom were forced on board the 
British vessel and into the service of the English navy. For 
this direct insult to the American people and their government, 
the English government apologized, but flatly refused to give 
up its claim to the right to search American vessels. This 
attack on the Chesapeake created great excitement and indigna- 



The Period of European Interlerence 3 1 9 

tion in the United States. Four years later, in j\Iay, ISll, 
\vhich was a little more than one year before war broke out 
between England and the I'nited States, the American war 
vessel Prcsidoit defeated the Hnglifh war vessel Litth Belt. 
This was considered by the Americans as a fair offset to the 
Chcsal>cakc incident. 

(c) The Embargo Policy of Jctfcrso)i : Americans cannot 
study this period of their history without shame and humilia- 
tion. The United States should have declared war against 
either England or France when those nations began to capture 
and destrov American vessels. It would have been better, per- 
haps, to have attacked England instead of Franco, because of 
these two nations England alone had territory of importance 
in North America which the armies of the I'nited States could 
have invaded, and she alone was guilty of searching American 
vessels and impressing American seamen. There seems no 
good reason whv these insults should have been endured. 
The United States at that time couUl ha\e raised, drilled, and 
thoroughly equipped an army of more than one hundred 
thousand, antl couUl have built a navy of at least tifty tirst-class 
vessels. W'nh such an army and navy the I'nited States, very 
likely, could have taken Canada, and have seriously injured the 
English navy, because her war with Napoleon required nuich 
of England's attention and resources. Jefferson, instead of 
building up the army and navy of the nation, loved peace so 
well and was so afraid of a national debt that he reduced the 
navy from twenty-seven vessels in commission for service to 
seven, stopped all construction of new vessels, and reduced the 
army about one-half. 

For the purpose of compelling France and England to stop 
the destruction of American commerce, Jeft'erson, instead of 
preparing for war, induced Congress to pass what is known 
as the Embargo Act. This law forbade .American vessels to 
leave American ports except to trade with other American 
ports. If obeyed, this law would have destroyed all trade with 
foreign nations. In order to enforce the Embargo Act. a law 
known as the Enforcement Act was passed. This law 
laid lieavv restrictions on the coastwise trade of the United 



320 National Growth and European Interference 

States and created bitter opposition, especially in New Eng- 
land, where commerce was the principal industry. The Em- 
bargo Act was ruining the commerce of the United States, and 
was doing but very little damage to either England or France. 
It seemed to amuse Napoleon, who said that by destroying 
American merchant vessels he was assisting Jefferson to en- 
force the laws of the United States, because the Embargo Act 
forbade American vessels to leave American ports. 

In February, 1809, just before the close of Jefferson's 
second administration, the Embargo Act was repealed, and 
another law. known as the Non-intercourse Act. was passed 
by Congress. This act forbade trade with France and Eng- 
land and the nations which they controlled, but permitted it 
with the rest of the world. American commerce at once began 
to prosper, although the French and English destroyed many 
of our vessels. Madison, who became President in March, 
1809, like Jefferson loved peace, and was not inclined to go to 
war in order to put a stop to the insulting conduct of these 
two nations. But the new Congress which met in December, 
1811, was determined to bring the period of humiliation to an 
end by declaring war against either France or England. 

The War of 1812 
171. Causes. — Among the members of the Congress which 
met in December. 1811, were many who were entering the 
national legislature for the first time. Henry Clay from 
Kentucky and John C. Calhoun from South Carolina were 
two of these new men. They and Webster, who entered Con- 
gress two years later from New Hampshire, were men of great 
ability and were closely connected with the political history 
of the United States through the next forty years. \'ery few 
of the statesmen who controlled affairs during the Revolution, 
and for a quarter of a century after, were now members of the 
national legislature. Statesmen of a younger generation had 
come into power. They represented the young and rising 
democracy of America, and especially of the W'est. They 
were full of hope and strength, and believed in the future 
greatness of the nation. The first thins: which thev determined 



The Period of European Interference 321 



to do was to compel Europe to treat the United States with 
proper respect and consideration. 

Under the leadership of these new men, Congress began to 
make preparations for war, and in June, 1812. declared war 
against England. Although Aladison desired peace, he signed 
the Declaration. The main causes of the war, of course, were 
the attacks on American commerce and the impressment of 
American sailors 
under the pretext 
that they were de- 
serters from the 
English navy. In 
addition to these 
insults, which, as 
already seen, Eng- 
land had been of- 
fering the United 
States for a num- 
ber of years, the 
Americans h a d 
good reasons to 
suspect that the 
English were in- 
ducing the Indians 
to attack the fron- 
tier settlements. 
W h e n England 
saw that the Unit- 
ed States was at 
last in earnest, she 
indicated a desire 
to settle the matter peaceably, but it was then too late. 

172. The American Army and Navy. — During the progress 
of the War of 1813 the Aiuericans suffered the results of the 
neglect which Jefiferson, during his two terms of office, and 
Madison, during his first term. -had treated the army and navy 
of the United States. The Constitution gives Congress the 
real control of these matters, and it therefore deserves equal 




Daniel Webster 



322 National Growth and European Interference 

blame for carryin<:^ out tlic policy of Jefiferson and Madison 
during this period. \\'hen war was declared, the army and 
navy could not have been in much worse condition. The army 
consisted of a few thousand men, and they were scattered along 
the frontier to protect the settlers against Indian attacks. The 
navy consisted of fewer than twenty vessels, and fewer than 
six of these were first-class battle ships. There were more than 
a thousand vessels in the British navy, and of this number 
more than two hundred were among the best battle ships in the 
world. In addition to having no army at the beginning of the 
war, the generals selected to organize an army and to conduct 
the campaign were not, as a rule, al)le, energetic, and deter- 
mined men. To make matters still worse, many of the 
Federalists, and es]HTially those of New Kngland, were opposed 
to the war and did nnich to hamper the government. The 
governors of most of the New England states refused to 
send the state troops outside of their states. Under all these 
adverse conditions there was little hope that the American 
armies would be successful, and the war on land was in the 
main a failure. 

173. The War on Land: (a) Caiiipa{[:;ii of 1S12 .•:/oa/n,s7 
Canada. — The Americans planned to invade Canada during 
1(S12. One army under Hull was to enter Canada at Detrtiit ; 
one under Van Rensselaer was to enter at Queenstown just 
south of Lake Ontario ; a third under Dearborn was to go 
down Lake Chamj^lain and advance on iMontreal. The armies 
under Hull and \'an Rensselaer were to unite and march on 
Montreal, and after the capture of that place the three armies 
were to take Quebec and complete the conquest of Canada. 
These three armies together consisted of fewer than fifteen 
thousand men, and they were poorly drilled and not very well 
commanded. Thus the Americans, with a mere handful of 
men. were undertaking the concjuest of Canada, a task for 
which they should have had an army of about a hundred 
thousand, and it should have been well drilled, well equipped, 
and under the command of able generals. Hull surrendered 
Detroit and the territory of Michigan without even fighting a 
battle. For this he was tried and sentenced to death, but was 



The Period of European Interference 323 

pardoned by the President. A small part of the army under 
\"an Rensselaer crossed the Niagara and'^ at first defeated the 
British ; but as the larger part of the American army refused to 
leave the territory of the United States, the American soldiers 
who crossed were finally defeated and captured. The army 
under Dearborn did not leave the state of New York. The 
first year of the war on land was thus a complete failure for the 
Americans. 




William Henry Harrison 



(b) Perry's Victory; Battle of the Thames. — During the 
year 1813 the Americans regained what they had lost by Hull's 
surrender. This was due mainly to Perry's victory on Lake 
Erie. The British had a small fleet on that lake. In one of 



324 National Growth and European Interference 

the protected inlets of the lake, Perry built a small fleet, got 
it safely across the bar into Lake Erie proper, and completely 
defeated the hjiglish fleet. This was one of the most brilliant 
victories of the war, and was due to the ability of Perry, who 
afterward became a commodore in the rej^^ular navy. 

With Lake h'rie under the control of Perry, Harrison, who 
now had command of the American army in the Northwest 
Territory, was able to attack the British and their Indian allies 
under Procter and Tecumseh. Kentucky sent about forty- 
five hundred men to Harrison, who then had an army of about 
six thousand. Perry transferred the Americans across Lake 
Erie. At a point on the Thames River, just southeast of Lake 
Huron, the British and Indian army was completely destroyed. 
Procter escaped, but Tecumseh was killed. Tecumseh was an 
Indian warrior of great ability and noble character. Before 
the war broke out he had tried to unite all the western Indian 
tribes so as to prevent the further advance of the whites ; but 
at the battle of Tipj^ecanoe, in the fall of 1811, Harrison had 
completely defeated the Indians. The death of Tecumseh 
put a stop to the Indian attacks on the northwestern frontier, 
and the destruction of Procter's army ended the fighting in the 
Northwest Territory. No other land battles of importance 
occurred during the year 1813. 

(c) Lundy's Lane; Macdononi!;h's Victory: Capture of 
Washington. — The principal events of the war on land during 
the year 1814 were the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane 
in Canada, just west of the Niagara River between Lakes Erie 
and Ontario ; the invasion of New York ; and the invasion of 
Maryland and the burning of the public buildings at Wash- 
ington. The American army in the vicinity of the Niagara 
River consisted of about thirty-five thousand men and was 
under the command of General Brown, with Scott and Ripley 
in command. These three young men were among the ablest 
generals that had command of an American army during the 
war. They defeated the British at the battle of Chippewa, and 
twenty days later held their own in a bloody night battle at 
Lundy's Lane. They repulsed the British attack on Fort 
Erie, and while thev could not invade Canada with their small 



The Period of European Interference 325 

army, they prevented the British from invachng the United 
States at this point. 

The attempt of the British to invade New York by way of 
Lake Champlain resulted in failure. Commodore Mac- 
donout^h, with a small American fleet, destroyed a small British 
fleet on that lake. This victory was quite important and was 
due to the .e^enius and ability of Macdonough. The British 
were preparing to invade New York with a veteran army of at 
least ten thousand men ; but when they lost control of Lake 
Champlain, they withdrew after the small battle of Plattsburg, 
which took place at a point on the west shore of the lake just 
south of the Canadian line. 

In August a British army, consisting of some four thousand 
veterans under the command of General Ross, sailed up the 
Chesapeake, landed at Benedict on the Patuxent River, and 
began its advance on the city of Washington. Although this 
attack was expected, no preparations had been made for the 
defense of the city except to collect a force of six thousand 
militia. The two armies met at Bladensburg, a short distance 
from Washington. The larger part of the American army 
fled when the battle first began. Four hundred American 
marines fought bravely, but they were soon either killed, 
captured, or forced to retreat. The British entered Washington 
and burned the Capitol and other public buildings. This was 
a useless and barbarous destruction of public buildings and 
valuable records, and thoughtful Englishmen have ahvavs 
denounced it as such. General Ross next attempted to cap- 
ture Baltimore, but he was killed and his army forced to re- 
treat. This ended the operations on land during the year 181 1. 

(d) Battle of A^eiv Orleans. — There was but one more land 
battle fought during the war. That was the battle of New 
Orleans, and it took place on January 8, 1815. just fifteen days 
after the treaty of peace had been signed at the village of Ghent 
in Belgium. England had determined to secure the territory 
of Louisiana, and for this purpose had decided to capture New 
Orleans. Europe had completely defeated Napoleon and had 
compelled him to leave France. This gave England a chance 
to send to America her veteran soldiers who had been fighting 



326 National Growth and European Interference 

Napoleon. A fleet of fifty vessels, carryin<^ about twelve 
thousand of these veterans, sailed for America in the autumn of 
1814 for the purpose of capturing- New Orleans and securing 
Louisiana. General Jackson had command of the army at 
New Orleans, and it was soon to be seen that the capture of 
that city would not be accomplished as was the capture of the 
city of Washington. Jackson placed New Orleans under 
martial law, and pressed every available man, horse, and mule 
into service. I'v working night and dav he succeeded in 




The Battle of New Orleans 

intrenching his army a few miles below the city before the 
British, under the veteran general Pakenham, were ready for 
the attack. The British advanced to the attack early in the 
morning of January S and were defeated with a loss of more 
than two thousand, while the total American loss was only 
seventy-oi>c. Among the killed was the brave Pakenham. 
The British gave up the attempt to capture New Orleans, em- 
barked on their vessels, and sailed away. This was the great- 
est as well as the last land battle of the war. It indicated what 
might have been the result along the Canadian border had a 



The Period of European Interference 327 

general of Jackson's ability and determination been in charge 
of affairs. 

174. The War on Sea. — While the American navy, consist- 
ing of fewer than twenty vessels, had no chance whatever of 
final success in a contest with tlie liritish navy of more than a 
thousand vessels, the work which it did was in striking contrast 
with that of the army, and remains a source of pride t(j the 
nation. During the year LSI 2, five vessels of the British navy 
were defeated and captured without the loss of an American 
vessel. During the year 18 1;? the British captured six or 
seven American vessels, which together carried about a hundred 
guns ; but during this same year the Americans captured 
twenty British war vessels, which together carried about three 
hundred and fifty guns. The last naval battle, which was the 
last engagement of the war, was fought in February, 1815, 
more than a month after the treaty of i)eace had been signed. 
In this last battle, as was the case in the last land battle, the 
Americans won a decisive victory. The United States vessel 
Constitution (nicknamed "Old Ironsides'") captured two 
British vessels. As was to be expected, the large British navy 
finally succeeded in destroying most of the few American war 
vessels and in blockading most of the harbors of the United 
States. But in a battle between a British and an American 
vessel of about equal size, the British vessel was usually de- 
feated and captured, hjigland had not been thus defeated on 
the ocean for more than one hundred and fifty years, and th"? 
splendid successes of the little American navy did more to 
secure for the United vStates the respect of England and the 
rest of Kurope that (Ud the war on land. 

The American privateers, however, did more real damage to 
the English than (Hd the American navy. A privateer is a 
vessel owned by private citizens and given permission by the 
government to destroy the commerce of the enemy. During 
the war of 1812 the United States licensed more than two hun- 
dred privateers, which captured or destroyed more than two 
thousand merchant vessels and secured goods worth many 
millions of dollars. They even took some prizes along the 
coast of England. One of them captured a town on the coast 



328 National Growth and European Interference 

of Scotland and destroyed the vessels in the harbor. This 
great damage to English commerce helped to hasten the end 
of the war, as it induced the English merchants to urge their 
government to make peace. 

175. Treaty of Ghent; Results of the War. — As has 
already been stated, the treaty of peace was signed at Ghent in 
Belgium on December 2i, 1814. It provided for the restora- 
tion of the conquests of both parties, and arranged for the 
settlement of boundary disputes and other questions. The 
causes of the war were not mentioned in the treaty ; but while 
these questions were not mentioned, the war really secured 
the commercial independence of the United States. Never 
since then has any nation interfered with American commerce 
or attempted the impressment of American seamen. The re- 
strictions on commerce during the war caused the birth of 
American factories by compelling the people, and especially 
those in the North, to invest their money in manufacturing 
rather than commerce, and compelling the people to buy manu- 
factured goods which were made in home factories. The war 
also did much to unify the nation, in spite of the opposition of 
the Federalists. It made the national government stronger 
by compelling a broad interpretation of the Constitution. It 
made the nation independent of Europe in many ways and 
tended to make it independent of its own colonial conditions and 
traditions. From this time on there was a much stronger 
national feeling among the people. 

176. The Hartford Convention. — As one of the principal 
industries of New England was foreign commerce, the embargo 
and non-importation policy of Jefferson, and especially the 
Enforcement Act which provided drastic measures for the 
enforcement of this policy, greatly injured the business interests 
of that section. The people of New England soon became 
strongly opposed to these laws because of this great injury to 
commerce. In 1800 the legislature of Massachusetts passed 
resolutions which in spirit were much the same as the \^irginia 
and Kentucky Resolutions. The passage of these resolutions 
was due partly to the fact that New England was strongly 
Federalist, and was vigorously opposed to Jefferson and the 



The Period of European Interference 329 

principles of the Republican party. The people of this section 
were also inclined to be friendly with England because of com- 
mercial relations with that nation, and were therefore opposed 
to the war of 1812, which they referred to as "Mr. Madison's 
war," although Madison desired peace and signed the declara- 
tion of war because of the firm stand Congress had taken in the 
matter. As the war progressed. New England became still 
more opposed to it, and from a number of things which »ook 
place it seems quite probable that her leaders were contemplat- 
ing some kind of armed resistance to the national government. 

In 1814 delegates from the various New England states met 
in convention at Hartford, Connecticut, to consider plans for 
unity of action on the part of New England. This convention 
held its meetings behind closed doors, and passed resolutions 
declaring, among other things, that when the Constitution was 
violated by acts of Congress, it became the duty of a state to 
oppose the enforcement of such laws. The convention re- 
quested that a part of the United States revenues collected in 
New England be given to the states of that section for their 
defense. Commissioners were sent to Congress bearing these 
and other resolutions of similar nature, but peace having been 
declared before they reached Washington they at once dropped 
the entire matter. The principles which were set forth in the 
resolutions passed by the Hartford convention were much 
stronger than those contained in the \'irginia and Kentucky 
Resolutions. Had they been carried out, these principles would 
have. practically destroyed the national government. 

177. The Purchase of Florida. — When the United States 
bought Louisiana, she claimed that West Florida was part of 
it, but Spain maintained the contrary. In 1810 the Americans 
took possession of that part of West Florida that bordered on 
the Mississippi. Spain protested against this action, but her 
war with Napoleon made it impossible for her to do anything. 
She could not properly govern the rest of Florida. Criminals 
and Indians made it their home, and would frequently cross 
over into the United States and nnu'der men, women, and 
children. The Spanish settlers encouraged the Indians in 
Florida, and also those in the United States just across the 



330 National Growth and European Interference 

border, to do these things. In 1818 the government sent 
General Jackson south with orders to stop the Indian attacks 
on the settlements along the frontier of Georgia. He defeated 
the Indians, pursued them across the border into Florida, cap- 
tured the Spanish towns of St. Marks and Pensacola, and 
hanged two Englishmen whom he accused of assisting the 
Indians. This invasion at once made trouble, which resulted 
in Spain's selling all of Florida to the United States in 1819, 
In return the United States gave up all claim to Texas. The 
price paid for Florida was five million dollars. 

178. The Monroe Doctrine: (a) The Holy Alliance. — 
In 1815 Europe completely defeated Napoleon, forced him to 
leave France as a prisoner, and restored the old line of kings 
to the PVench throne. During this same year the leading 
nations of Europe, with the exception of England, formed 
what they called the Holy Alliance. The French Revolution 
had greatly alarmed the kings and emperors of the various 
nations of Europe, and this Holy Alliance was an agreement 
made by these monarchs to assist one another in case the people 
of a nation which any one of them ruled attempted to revolt, 
and to secure more power in making laws and controlling the 
government. Among the first acts of the Holy Alliance was 
the forcible sup])ression of liberal government in Spain and 
the making of the king of that nation an absolute monarch. 
This was done in 1822. Between 1810 and 1822 all of the 
Spanish-American colonies in North and South America, tak- 
ing advantage of the weakened condition of Spain, threw off 
Spanish authority and established independent republics. 
These republics included Mexico and all of South America 
save Brazil, which still belonged to Portugal. After the Holy 
Alliance had made the king of Spain an absolute monarch, he 
asked it to help him to regain his control over these Spanish- 
American republics. 

(b) American and English Opposition to the Holy Alli- 
ance. — Both the English and the American people were op- 
posed to this, and the British government proposed to the 
government of the United States that they combine against the 
intended action of the Holv Alliance. The United States 



The Period of European Interference 331 



government declined to act in concert with Great Britain, but 
it soon formally recognized the independence of all these 
Spanish-American republics. A short time before this the 
Czar of Russia had issued a decree claiming all the Pacific 
coast of North America from Alaska down to the 51st parallel, 
and forbidding foreign vessels to approach within one hundred 
miles of the shore. It was her evident intention to extend her 
influence southward and to shut out the United States from 
the Pacific coast. This action of Russia's made it look very 
much as though the Holy Alliance had made a deliberate plan 
to secure as much territory in the New World as possible. 

(c) The Monroe 
Doctrine Enunciated. 
— T h e question at 
once became very 
important to the 
United States. In 
1822 John Quincy 
Adams, who was then 
Secretary of State, ; 
made a strong protest 
to Russia against herl 
action on the Pacific 
coast, and stated that 
the nations of Europe 
had no right to plant 
anv more colonies in 
either North or South 
America. Then fol- 
lowed the proposal of 
, TT 1 VII- , James Monroe 

the Holy Alliance to ■* 

assist Spain to subdue her Spanish-American colonies. After 
careful consideration Adams prepared a statement that gave 
the position which he thought the United States should assume 
in regard to the entire matter. In December, 1S23, President 
Monroe, in his annual message to Congress, made the statement 
prepared by Adams a part of his message. This statement 




332 National (irowth and European Interference 

has ever since been known as the IMonroe Doctrine, and in 
substance is as follows : — 

1. European nations will not be permitted to establish any 

new colonies in America or to add any more territory 
to those already existinj^. 

2. European nations will not be ])ermitted to interfere with 

the internal affairs of American republics. 

179. End of the Period of European Interference. — The 
statement of the Monroi' Doctrine in the President's messaL^e 
brous^ht this period to an end. lCni;land at once i^ave the other 
leading nations of luirope to understand that in so far as the 
Spanish-American republics were concerned, she would help 
the Ignited States to enforce the Monroe Doctrine. The firm 
attitude of the American j^overnment, and the quiet support 
of that attitude by the l',n<;lish government, caused the Holy 
Alliance to give up all its plans regarding America. In 1834: 
Russia made a treaty with the United States which fixed the 
parallel 51° -lo' as the Southern boundarN' of Russian territory 
on the Pacific coast. ' Never since has the L'nited States per- 
mitted any European nation to secure additional territory in 
either North or South America. As has already been seen, the 
United States in ITi):!, under the firm and wise direction of 
Washington, established the great principle of American 
neutrality in European affairs. After Europe had interfered 
in the afTairs of the United States for more than thirty years, 
driving her to war with England and almost to war with 
France. IMonroe, by his annual message in 1833, established 
the doctrine of non-interference by Europe in American affairs. 
Thus after a long struggle the United States rid herself of 
European interference, and the American people coidd now 
devote all their efforts to the great home problems then just 
beginning to press to the front. 

FINANCIAL LEGISLATION: THE TARIFF 

180. Hamilton's Financial Measures: (a) financial 
Conditions in 178!). — In the history of the Ignited States, during 
the period which intervened between the first election of Wash- 
ington as President and about IS3S, the question next in im- 



Financial Legislation: The Tariff 333 

portance to that of European interference was tlie financial or 
money question. As has already been seen, the condition of 
money and business during- the Critical Period was very bad 
indeed, and was one of the main causes that broui;ht about the 
adoption of the new Constitution. When the new i^overnment 
was ors^anized, the credit of the national fjovcrnmcnt was 
almost worthless, both at home and in luirope. In London, 
which was the center of the world's money market, a dollar's 
worth of United v'^tatcs bonds could not be sold for twenty-five 
cents. The national treasury was empty, and the national 
debt was about fifty-four million dollars. These were the 
financial conditions that the new government had to face, and 
they were certainly very serious. P)efore Washinj^ton took the 
oath of office, Congress began to try to better these conditions. 
In order to secure money to pay the immediate expenses of the 
government, it soon passed a bill which imposed a small tax 
or duty on certain kinds of goods wdiich were brought into the 
United States from foreign countries. Washington signed 
this bill soon after he was inaugurated, and thus went into ef- 
fect the first tarifi^ law of the Ignited States. 

(b) Nature of Ihuniltons Measures. — This tariff bill was 
but a temporary measure, however, and it was for Hamilton, 
whom Washington appointed the first Secretary of the 
Treasury, to propose definite .plans for placing the money 
affairs of the government and nation on a firm and safe basis. 
Hamilton had rendered a great service to the United States 
in his able fight for the ratification of the Constitution, and he 
was now about to render another great service to his coimtry 
by solving the complex question of its finances in a most 
thorough and satisfactory manner. The com])lete plan which 
he submitted to Congress consisted of five parts. The plan is 
known as Hamilton's Financial Measures, anrl was as fol- 
lows : — 

1. A slight increase in the duties laid by the first tariff. 

2. An excise or internal tax to be placed on distilled 

li(jUors. This law provided that a tax must be paid 
on whisky that was made in the United vStates and 
placed on the market for sale. 




Alexandkk 1 Iamh.tdn 



334 



Financial Legislation: The Tariff 335 

15, The third ])arl of 1 laniiUoii's plan is known as the fund- 
in i^ of the national debt. I'>y fiin(lin_t;' is meant that 
llaniilton ])roposcd that the government should take up 
all the old honds of the United States and all the 
certificates or reeeipls which had heen j^iven instead of 
money to many of the old soldiers for their services and 
to many of those who had furnished supplies to the 
army durinj;- the Revolution. Those who };ave (jld 
bonds and certificates to the government were to receive 
in their place new United States honds, which were to 
bear a certain rate of interest until paid. Many of the 
old bonds and certificates were not then held by those 
who had first received them, and many of those in whose 
possession they then were had not paid for them more 
than twenty-five cents on the dollar — that is, one man 
would buy from another one hundred dollars' worth of 
bonds for twenty-five dollars, fn order to carry out 
the promise of the old _<;overnnient, llaniilton ])roposed 
that the new bonds issued shcnild be for the full face 
value of the old bonds and certificates. This meant that a 
person who held a hundred dollars' worth of old bonds 
or certificates, for which he may have paid but twenty- 
five dollars, would receive a hundred dollars' worth of 
new bonds for which the s^overnment would pay him one 
hundred dollars, and pa\' him interest on this amount 
until it was settled. 

4. The fourth ]xn"t of Hamilton's ])lan is known as (he as- 

sumption of state debts. I'.y the assum])tion of slate 
debts is meant that Hamilton proposed that the national 
government should ])ay all ihr debts incurred by the 
various states in su])port of the Revolution. 

5. The fifth part of Hamilton's plan ])rf)])osed the cslablish- 

ment of a United States lUink. This bank was to have 
a capital of ten million dollars — that is, it could offer for 
sale ten million dollars' worth of shares. A person who 
bou.t^ht five hundred dollars' worth of these shares, for 
instance, would own that amount of interest in the 
bank and would receive his proportion of whatever 



336 National (ircnvth and European Interference 

niDiK'v llic" l);mk nii^lit tnakf. The bank was to be 
niaiiaj^otl bv i)rivak' imlividuals, but \hc ^ovcrnmcnl 
was to own two niiUioii dollars' wurth of tlie shares 
and was to ha\r tin.' ri.<;hl to examine into its condition 
at anv time in order to be sure that it was beinp: con- 
ducted honestly. The bank was to have the rii;ht to 
establi>h branch banks in various cities and in different 
parts of the I'nited States. The t;(n-ernment was to 
have the ri.uht to dcjiosit the public money in the pro- 
posed I'niled v'^lates I'.ank and its branch banks, and 
could use these banks for collecting;- taxes and i^ayinj;- 
out monev. llamilton's object in establishing the bank 
was to enable the j;(niMnment to nianaj^c its financial 
alTairs more easily, and to j^ivc stability throughout the 
nation to mone\ and business matters. 

(c) Success of I liVitiltoii's Measures. — Some of Hamilton's 
financial measures met with strong- oppositicm in Coni^ress, but 
that b(Hl\- i'lnalK- i)assed them, and they were all siL;ned by the 
President. The result o\ his measures was better than 1 lamil- 
ton himself dared hope. The credit i^i the I'nited States was 
lirmlv established both at home and abroad. It was not long 
before a dollar's worth of I'nited States bonds in London was 
worth a dollar in i^old. whereas before a dollar's worth of these 
bomls was worth less than t\\enty-li\e cents. C^ne of the 
main objects which llamilton had in view when he prepared his 
financial measures was to stren.i;lhei) the national ,i;overnment 
in the minds of the pcoj^le. The assumption of stati- debts, the 
I'nited v^lates I'ank, and the internal tax on whisky had 
a splendid effect in this respect. All these things caused the 
lK\")ple ti> \oo\< to the national mnernment more, and to the 
state government less. 

(d) Whisky Rebellion. — The tax on whisky met with some 
opposition in some jiarts of the country. In western rennsyl- 
vania some of the peojile refused to pay this tax. and armed 
themselves for the i)ur]M^se of resisting the federal ofticers, 
whose dnt\ it was to collect it. This uprising is known as the 
Whiskv Rebellion. Washington decided to conipel the peojilc 
of western Pennsylvania to obey the law, and for this purpose 



Financial Legislation: The Tariff 337 

called upon llio j^oveniors <if Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Mary- 
land, and X'irj^inia to furnish soldiers. J^oon an army of 
filteen thousand was niarchiuL; Hiiduidi I 'i'nns\'lvania, hut he- 
fore it reached the weijtern ])art of tlie state the men who had 
j^athered for the pur|)ose of resistiuL;- the national government 
went home and decided that it wmild he hest to ohe\' the law. 
Th.e (irm stand of Washington in this matter caused the ])ower 
of the national ,i;overnmeiit to he impressed on the nu'nds of 
tlu' peo])Ie in all jjarls of the counlr\'. Thus llamilton's 
linancial ])lan ])rove(l a success in almost every respect, and 
he fully deserves to he honored as one of the si'rcatest Ihianciers 
the [ nited States has vvcv ])ro(luccd. 

181. Jefferson and Gallatin's Financial Measures. — Undcr 
the administrations of Washington and /\dams the income of 
the national government had increased from less than three 
million dollars in ITS!) to almost ele\(n million dollars in (WOO. 
lUit the ex])enses of the j,n)vernnK'nt had increasecl faster than 
its income, and wdien Jefferson hecanu' rresideni in |S()(», the 
national deht amounted to almost eij^iity-three million dollars. 
Jeflerson's ])olicy was to reduce the expenses of the; ^govern- 
ment so as to rt'duce the taxes, and at the same time pav off 
the national deht. Me ap])oinl(d Callatin »Secretarv of the 
Treasury, and the latter formed plans for carrying;- out the 
financial ideas of Jefferson. Although the internal taxes were 
re])ealed, the annual income of the j^overnment increased. 
This was due to the increase in the volume of imported moods, 
which j^ave tlie j^overnmcnl more moii(\' from the tariff taxes. 
Jefferson at the same time was reducing- ex])enses in nearly 
all the de])artmcnts of f^^overnment. I'>y ISOS the national deht 
had heen reduced to forty-five million dollars, and Louisiana 
had heen ])aid for. This was certainly a L^ood record from a 
purely financial point of view, hut ])art of the policy which 
.secured it ])roved to he of far i^reater injury to the nation than 
a larj^er deht would have heen. 

The j^reat increase in t1ie exi)enses of tlu' government durinj^- 
the administration of Washinjj^ton and Adams lia<l heen for the 
army anrl navy, and es]X'cially for the navy. Jefferson made 
his principal reduction in expenses hy reducinj^ the army one 



338 National Growth and European Interference 

half, and the navy from twenty-seven ships in commission for 
service to seven, and hy stopping all construction of new 
vessels. This was done during the time that the United States 
was being insulted and humiliated by bath France and England. 
When the war with England did come, the nation suffered one 
defeat after another, largely because of the reduction and neg- 
lect of the army and navy during the two administrations of 
Jefferson and the first administration of Madison. 

182. The United States Bank and State Banks. — At the 
close of the War of 1S12 the national debt had increased to 
almost one hundred and thirty million dollars, and the financial 
affairs of the nation were in a bad condition. To some extent 
this was due to the fact that the United States Bank did not 
exist during the war, when a tried and solid financial system 
was most needed. The charter of the bank expired in 1811, 
and Congress refused to renew it. This action of Congress 
was due to several conditions. When the bank was chartered 
in 1791, there were only four state banks in existence; when 
the charter expired in 1811. there were eighty-eight of these 
state banks in existence, and during the next three years the 
number had more than doubled. The state banks, as a rule, 
were opposed to the United States Bank, because they hoped 
to secure its business and the government deposits. Some 
of the states were interested in some of their banks in the way 
that the national government was interested in the United 
States Bank, and for this and other reasons several of the state 
legislatures passed resolutions against renewing the charter 
of the United States Bank. . Many were opposed to renewing 
the charter because they feared the bank's influence as a 
monopoly, and also as a corrupt factor in politics. But the 
financial affairs of the nation became so bad after the war that 
Congress, in 181(1, in spite of all opposition, renewed the char- 
ter of the United States lUuik f(ir a ])eriod of twenty years. 
The next attack on the bank was made by Jackson when he 
became President. 

183. Tariff Legislation: (a) first Tariff Act in the 
United States. — A tariff as used in connection with national 
legislation in the United States is a tax or duty that must be 



Financial Legislation: The Tariff 339 

paid on i^oods brouti^ht into the country from other nations. 
Cong^ress is the only body in the United States that has the 
power to levy such taxes. One of the main objects of a tarifif 
is to obtain the money required to meet the expenses of govern- 
ment and to pay off the national debt. Another object is to 
protect home industries. Many believe that tariff should be 
so levied as to protect the manufacturing and agricultural in- 
terests of the country. This means that all kinds of goods that 
can be produced in the United States in quantities large enough 
or nearly large enough to supply the home demand should be 
required to pay a duty if imported so as to secure a better liome 
market for home products and thus increase home production. 
On the other hand, many believe that a protective tariff raises 
the price of goods and products, and benefits only those who 
produce the articles on which an import duty is levied. These 
people, therefore, believe that a tariff should be levied for the 
purpose of revenue only, and that tariff should be levied only 
on such articles as are used by the wealthier classes. The 
tariff question has always been an important question in the 
United States. As already noted, Congress passed the first 
tariff law in 1789. The main object of this first tariff law was 
to secure revenue for the new government, but during the 
debate the protective principle was briefly discussed, and the 
law was protective in a small measure. 

(b) Groxvth of the Idea of Protection. — Up to the year 
181G there was very little change in the tariff policy of the 
United States. While the duties were changed, and in many 
cases increased from time to time, the principle of tariff for 
revenue chiefly remained the same. The war of 1812, how- 
ever, had aided the growth and development of American 
manufactures, and their protection and encouragement by the 
government became a question of more and more importance. 
This led to the passage of a tariff law in 181(! which had for its 
express purpose the protection of American industries. This 
principle was established still more firmly by the passage in 
1821 of a still higher protective tariff. There was practically 
no opposition to the tariff policy of the government up to the 
adoption of the principle of protection. Even in 181G the 



340 National Growth and European Interference 

opposition was not strong, and the South, acting on the advice 
of Calhonn, gave the principle of protection its cordial support. 
But the opposition to the tarifif for the protection of home in- 
dustries soon began to grow, and especially was this true in the 
South. In the northern states, and especially in New England 
where the growth of manufactures was becoming more and 
more rapid, the people, as a rule, were in favor of the pro- 
tective principle, but those in New England who were en- 
gaged in commerce strongly opposed it. In the South the op- 
position became stronger and stronger. The South had re- 
mained almost entirely agricultural, and had developed no 
manufacturing interests of importance. The southern people, 
therefore, thought that they had nothing to gain from the 
principle of protection. As will be seen later, the opposition of 
the South came very nearly leading to serious results during 
Jackson's first administration. 

POLITICAL PARTIES 

184, Rise of Political Parties. — During nearly all the time 
since the foundation of the government to the present, there 
have been two great political parties in the United States. The 
people have been divided into different parties because they 
have had dift'erent ideas about things which affect the growth 
and welfare of the nation. If the people all had the same 
ideas about such questions, there would be but one political 
party, although there might be two or more men running for 
the same ofifice. In the latter case, however, the division would 
be based on personal liking, and not on a difference of opinion 
regarding questions and great principles which affect the wel- 
fare of the nation. It is a good thing for the people to have 
different opinions about public questions, and to organize 
themselves into political parties for the purpose of getting con- 
trol of the government and carrying out their opinions by 
making laws. The active public discussion of great public 
questions, which is caused by the contest between the different 
parties, tends to lead to the truth, educates the people, and 
better prepares them for the duties and responsibilities of self- 
government. 



Political Parties 341 

The first great question which caused the people of the 
United States to divide into political parties was the difiference 
of opinion regarding" the nature of the new government. Sec- 
tion 8 of Article I of the Constitution, after stating the specific, 
powers of Congress, says Congress shall have power "To make 
all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into 
Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested 
by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, 
or in any Department or Officer thereof." Many people be- 
lieve that this clause should be loosely construed ; that is, it 
should be taken to mean that the new government should 
exercise not only the powers specifically granted to it by the 
Constitution, but that it should assume -such implied powers 
as might be necessary or even expedient in carrying out those 
powers specifically given to it. For instance : the Constitution 
does not say that Congress has the power to establish a United 
States Bank, but Hamilton insisted that this power is implied 
by the clause given above, because such a bank would assist in 
carrying out the power of taxation, — a power which the Con- 
stitution specifically gives to Congress. Those who believed 
in this loose construction of the Constitution wished to central- 
ize the government, and believed that it should be controlled 
by the well-born, well-educated, and wealthier classes. There 
were many people, however, who did not believe that the Con- 
stitution should be thus loosely construed, or that the govern- 
ment should be controlled by the upper classes. They believed 
that Congress should assume only such implied powers as are 
absolutely necessary to carry out the powers specifically given 
to it. They maintained, for instance, that the power of Con- 
gress to establish the United States Bank is not implied in the 
Constitution. They did not believe that the government should 
be centralized. They had faith in the common people, and 
believed that the affairs of government could be safely intrusted 
to them. As stated above, this difference of opinion as to 
how the Constitution should be interpreted caused the first 
division of the people into political parties. Up to the time of 
the American Civil War it was one of the great political 
questions, and was almost constantly before the American 

26 



342 National Growth and European Interference 

people. The exact nature of the powers which belong to the 
national government is still an important question, and will 
remain one as long as the Constitution is in force ; hut since the 
Civil War it has not been an important political question in the 
sense or wav in which it was before that time. 

185. The Federalist Party; Its Rise and Fall. — Those who 
believed that the Constitution should be loosely construed, and 
that the government should be centralized and controlled by 
the upper classes, formed themselves into what is known as 
the Federalist party., Among the leaders of this party were 
Washington, Hamilton, and John Adams. The Federalist 
party had control of the national government for twelve years. 
Washington and John Adams were the Federalist Presidents, 
Washington's term lasting from 1789 to j\Iarch 4, 1797, and 
Adams's term from the latter date to March 4, 1801. To that 
party must be given the credit of organizing the government 
upon a sound and safe, but not radical basis. This was a 
great and very important work, among its more important 
features being the establishment of the principle of American 
neutrality in European affairs, and the inauguration of Hamil- 
ton's financial measures which resulted in firmly establishing 
the financial credit of the nation. The common sense and good 
judgment of Washington, and the confidence of the people in 
his ability and patriotism, caused the new national government 
to become strong from the very first, and to win the support 
and confidence of the masses of the people. 

But while the Federalist party accomplished a great work, 
it was doomed by its very make-up to early destruction. The 
Federalist leaders, though extremely patriotic, were naturally 
aristocratic. In addition to believing that the government 
should be controlled by the upper classes, they desired to in- 
troduce some of the forms and ceremonies of the English 
government. In his official work and intercourses, W'ashington 
insisted that a certain amount of etiquette and ceremony be 
strictly observed. When Congress was not in session, he 
frequently traveled through the country in a style vcr\' much 
as a king might have traveled. The people loved Washington 
because he had devoted his life, in a very unselfish way, to the 



Political Parties 343 

service of his country, and the value of his work to the nation 
had been much "greater than that of any other man. But the 
ideals and ceremonies of the Federalist party were out of har- 
mony with the rising; democratic spirit of the republic. . The 
chief cause of the fall of the party was its theory of i^overn- 
ment by the leaders, instead of by the masses. As this theory 
was not in harmony with ^^rowini^ democratic ideas, it made the 
fall of the party permanent. The passage of the Alien and 
Sedition Laws was an attempt to stop the public expression of 
these ideas, and this so aroused the people that at the election 
for President in 1800, they elected Jefferson, who was leader 
of the Anti-Federalist party. The opposition of the Federalists 
to the War of 1812 and their action in the Hartford convention 
were the deathblow to their party, which had already fallen 
into popular disfavor for the reasons given above. 

186. The Republican Party; Its Rise and Fall. — During 
the first administration of Washington, those who believed in 
a strict construction of the Constitution, and that the govern- 
ment should not be centralized nor controlled by the upper 
classes, gradually formed themeselves into what is known as the 
Anti-Federalist or Republican party. Among the leaders of 
this party were Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. The 
Republican party made no attempt to defeat Washington. He 
received every vote at the first two elections for President, and 
could have been elected the third time had he not positively 
refused to be a candidate. 

When the Federalists had control of the government, the 
leaders of the Republican party claimed that the Federalist 
party was assuming more powers than were granted the 
national government by the Constitution, and that the states 
were being deprived of their rights. The Republicans did not 
believe in so much etiquette and so many ceremonies in con- 
nection with the government. They believed that everything 
should be more democratic, and that the national government 
should be careful to do nothing that the Constitution did not 
plainly give it the right to do. The Republican party carried 
the election for President in the autumn of 1800, and had con- 
trol of the national government from March, 1801, to March, 



344 National Growth and European Interference 

1829. Jefferson, the leader of the RepubHcan party, was 
President for two terms, ISOl to 1800. He was followed by 
Madison, ISO}) to 1S17. Monroe, who was President from 
1S17 to 1835, was a Republican in name, but his administration 
was noted for an almost total lack of party fcelinc^. so much so 
that the period covered by his two terms is often called the 
"Era of Good Feeling." John Ouincy Adams was the fourth 
of the Republican Presidents, 1825 to 1829. During his ad- 
ministration the party broke up into personal factions. It is 
almost true to say that it did that at the end of Monroe's 
second administration. In the bitter personal fight for Presi- 
dent in the autumn of 1828, Jackson was successful, and dur- 
ing his administration two new parties were organized, — the 
Whig party and the Democratic party. These two parties will 
be discussed under that period of our history extending from 
1828 to 18()0. 

The Republican party defeated the Federalist party and 
secured control of the government on the strength of promises 
that involved two general principles. One was that it would 
abolish the aristocratic etiquette and ceremonies which the 
Federalist party had introduced in connection with the ofiicial 
work of the government. The other that it would restrict the 
power of the government to those things plainly stated in 
the Constitution. The promises involving the first principle 
were carried out by the Republicans. Many of the ceremonies 
which the Federalists had introduced were abolished, and the 
manner of carrying on the government became more demo- 
cratic and has remained so ever since. The second promise 
which the Republicans made, however, was not carried out at 
all. In fact, they gave a much looser construction to the Con- 
stitution than the Federalists ever dared to give. The pur- 
chase of Louisiana and the passage of the Embargo .\ct and 
the Enforcement Act wont far beyond anything which the 
Federalists had ever done along this line. It is very doubtful, 
to say the least, whether some things which the national 
government did during JeiTerson's and Madison's administra- 
tions were not a little beyond the powers granted it by the 
Constitution. The Federalists were now claiming that the 



Growth of the Nation 345 

Republicans were s'iviiifj;- too loose a construction to the Con- 
stitution. The Hartford convention was a protest against this, 
as the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were a protest 
against the action of the Federalist party in this respect. It is 
interesting to note that ever since then the party not in power 
has made this same charge against the party in power. 

GROWTH OF THE NATION 

187. Growth in Territory and Population. — At the close 
of the Revolution, in 17.s;5, the territory of the United States 
extended from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, and from Canada 
to Florida. C)f all this vast area of over eight hundred thou- 
sand scjuarc miles, less than three hundred thousand were oc- 
cupied and settled, and of the three million inhabitants, the 
great mass lived east of the Appalachian Mountains. At the 
end f)f the period of National Growth and European Inter- 
ference the area of the United States had increased — through 
the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory in 1803 and of 
Florida in 1S19 — to more than two million square miles, of 
which six hundred thousand were settled. The population 
harl reached nearly twelve millions, the increase in the West 
being much more rapid than in the East. Thus in 1H28 the 
territory of the nation was about two and one-half times greater 
than at the close of the Revolution, and the population was 
about four times greater. 

188. Movement of Population; Causes and Direction. — 
About the time of the French and Indian War, settlers began 
to move westward in search of new homes, chiefly along the 
Ohio, At the close of the Revolution the number of people 
leaving the original thirteen states along the Atlantic seaboard, 
and settling in the country between the Alleghany Mountains 
and the Mississippi River, began to increase rapidly. This 
was due to several causes. Most of this western land was 
cheap, fertile, and well watered, and many men. therefore, 
welcomed the chance to build up homes and fortunes in this 
new country. The government had given portions of this 
rich land to many of the soldiers of the Revolution in payment 
for their services during the war. The bad condition of busi- 



34^ National Growth and European Interference 

ness (lurint;- the Critical Period was a strong factor in cansing 
many people to leave their old homes and seek new homes in 
the West. It has always been true in the history of the United 
States that when there were hard times in the East, with lack 
of business and scarcity of money, there has been a rush of 
settlers westward. All these causes led to the rapid settling of 
the West. 

It is very important to note ll;;;t this migration of the people 
was along two different courses, which ran westward in par- 




A l'"i..\TU).\T OX Till-: Ohio 

allel lines from the northern and southern sections of the 
country that bordered on the Atlantic. Those who wetit West 
from Delaware, Maryland, X'irginia, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, and Georgia generally settled in Kentucky, Tenn- 
essee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and iMissouri, and later 
in Arkansas and Texas ; those who went West from New 
Jersey, Pemisylyania. New York, and New England settled 
chielly in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan, 
and later in Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska. The settlers from 



a 




Growth of the Nation 347 

each section of the eastern states carried with tliem their in- 
dustrial and social customs. 'iMius in the southern part of the 
western territory the same industrial and social conditions pre- 
vailed as in the southern Atlantic states, and slavery hecame 
established with the settlement of the country, while in the 
northern part of the western country the same industrial and 
social conditions ])revailed as in the northern Atlantic states, 
and slavery therefore was not established. In the southern 
part of the weslei'u country, as in the southern ])art of the 
eastern country, the t()])Oi;raphy, climate, and soil tended to 
make slave labor profitable ; while in the nothern part of the 
western country, the same as in the northern ])art of the 
eastern country, to]:)OQra])hy, climate, and soil tended to make 
slave labor improfitable. 

189. Results of Westward Expansion: (a) Formation 
of New States. — In the organization of all the western territory 
the provisions of the Ordinance of 1781 in many respects were 
followed. The rapid settlement of the western lands soon led 
to the formation of new states, in accordance with the pro- 
visions of this ordinance. The first state carved out of this 
western country was Kentucky. I'y 1828 eleven new states 
had 1)een added to the orij^inal thirteen, nine of them beiui^ in 
the Mississippi Valley. Thus the inlluence of the West had 
become an important factor in national affairs, and was rapidly 
becoming- a still more important factor. In character the con- 
stitutions of the western states were much more democratic 
than those of the eastern states. This was due larjT;-ely to the 
conditions of frontier life, which tended to put men on an ecjual 
footinj^ with one another, and to compel them to rely on their 
own efforts. 

(b) Internal luiprovcmcnts: CninberJand Road, Erie Canal. 
— The rai)i(l p^rowth of the West and the great increase in the 
volume of its commerce made it necessary and profitable for 
both the ,Kast and the West to open up hip^hways between the 
two sections. A lar,<;e part of the foreign commerce of the 
West was carried on by way of the Mississippi, but the over- 
land commerce l)etween the East and the West was also very 
important. 'J'he (piestion of building roads, bridges, canals, 



348 National Growth and European Interference 

and improving the rivers by the aid of the national govern- 
ment was early taken up by Congress, and became to some ex- 
tent a political issue. The first work of this kind undertaken 
by the government was the building of the Cumberland Road 
between the Ohio and the Potomac rivers. Although internal 
improvements of this nature were constantly discussed, nothing 
more was done by the national government during this period. 
Some of the states, however, took up the work. New York 
completed the Erie Canal in 1835, and this great highway soon 




An Early Pioneer Settlement in Kentucky 

became an important factor in building up the commerce of the 
nation as well as that of the state. Other states also built 
important canals, roads, and bridges. 

(c) Struggle over Slavery; The Missouri Compromise. — 
The settlement of the West led to the first struggle over slavery. 
The Ordinance of 1787 forever prohibited slavery in the North- 
west Territory, which included the present states of Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois. Michigan, and Wisconsin. But there was 
no national legislation on the question of slavery in the terri- 



Growth of the Nation 



349 



tory south of the Ohio between the Mississippi and the southern 
Atlantic states, nor in the Louisiana Territory, until the pas- 
sage of the Missouri Compromise. In the western territory 
south of the Ohio the people of each state were permitted to 
settle the question for themselves. As the states of Kentucky, 
Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana were settled 
by people from the slaveholding states of the East, they also 
were slaveholding states. Alabama, which was the last of this 
group of five states to come into the Union, was admitted in 
1819. As Florida was certain to be a slave state, the question 




The Erik Canal 



of slavery in all the country cast of the Mississippi, and in all 
that part of the state of Louisiana west of that river, was settled 
for the time being at least. But the question of slavery in the 
Louisiana Territory, except that part included in the state of 
Louisiana, was not settled. The territory of Missouri was west 
of the Mississippi, and was a part of the Louisiana Territory. 
When Missouri, in 1818 applied for admission into the Union, 
it became necessary for Congress to decide whether or not 
slavery should be permitted to extend into the Louisiana Terri- 
tory. This caused the first struggle over slavery since the 
organization of the new government. Slavery had existed in 



350 National Cirowtli and European .Interlerence 

all tlu' stales, but the fact that slaves could not be used with 
uuich proiit in the North brought about the gradual abolition 
of slavery in New England and in nearly all ibe middle states. 
The fact that the northern people were not accustomed to 
slavery helped to cause a nigral sentiment to .c^row up slowly 
at^ainsl slavery in the North. In the v^oulh, on the other liand. 
slavery had been found still more ])rolital)le, had increased, 
and had become more iirmly rooted in the industrial and social 
conditions than ever. I'nder all these cireumslr.nces the ex- 
tension of slavery into the territory of Louisiana became a 
question of great interest to the entire nation. The whole 
(|nesti(Mi was settled by a compromise which is known as the 
Missouri Compromise. 

This compromise had its origin in the desire of the slave- 
holding states to pre\i'nt those states in which slavery did not 
exist from securing control of the United Slates Senate. The 
northern states, having a larger population than the southern 
slates, would always have a majority in the Ihuise of Repre- 
sentatives. The southern states, knowing this, were determined 
to control as many votes in the Senate as the northern states, 
.and thus be in a position to prexenl any legislation hostile to 
slaverv. In order to be able to do this, a slave state must be 
admitted into the Ihiion with every free state, l^p to 1818 
this plan had been followed carefully, and of the twenly-two 
states then forming the L'nion, eleven were free and eleven 
were slave. To jireserve this balance recpiired that the terri- 
torv included in the Louisiana Purchase should be half slave 
and half free. The North was determined that slavery should 
not be permitted to exist in any of this territory, and the South 
was diiermined that it should. When Missouri applied for 
admission to the I'nion, her constitution said nothing about 
slaverv, but it was almost certain that she would be a slave 
state, ller application for admission caused angry discussions 
in Congress and among the people generally throughout the 
nation. The Mouse of Representatives would not permit Mis- 
souri to enter as a slave state, and the Senate would not allow 
slaverv to be prohibited. Tn 1820 Maine applied for admission 
to the Union as a free stale. The Senate, in which the South 



Growth of the Nation 351 

had as many voles as the North, would not consent to the ad- 
mission of Maine unless Missouri was also allowed to enter. 
The question was compromised as follows : — 

1. Maine should be admitted as a free state and Missouri as 

a slave state. 

2. The Louisiana Purchase should be divided by the parallel 

of 3()° 'M)', and in all territory north of this line, except- 
ing' Missouri, slavery should be forever prohibited. 

The Missouri Comj^romise settled the slavery question for 
the time beini:;'. It was thoujj^ht by many that it settled the 
question finally ;"but because of the acquisition of new territory, 
and because of the difference in the industrial and social con- 
ditions of the North and South, compromise measures could 
result only in postponinj^: for some years the final conflict. 

190. Growth of National Unity. — At the end of this period, 
in 182.S, the nation as a whole was much more united than at 
the be,ginnin<^ of the period in 17Hn, when the Constitution 
went into effect, 'j'liis uniting;' or nationalizing' of the nation 
was caused by several things. The constant interference with 
American affairs by luirope during the first part of this period 
tended to unite the peo])le. Tn spite of the op])osition of the 
Federalists, the War of 1H\M develo])ed a strong feeling of 
national unity among the American people. It caused them to 
feel inde])endent of luirope, and to ])Ut aside and forget many 
of the customs and conditions which had survived since 
colonial times. All this left the nation united and in a con- 
dition to develop a true national life. The purchase of Louisi- 
ana and Florida also tended toward national unity. Tn the 
purchase and government of this territory Congress was 
forced to make a loose construction of the Constitution, and 
as the Republican party was then in power, that party became 
the champion of the nationalizing policy to which it was 
so strongly opposed when the Federalists had control of the 
government. As the Republican party was in power from 
1801 to 1829, its work in advancing the nationalizing policy 
was of great importance. That which had the most to do in 
advancing the growth of national unity, perhaps, was the rapid 
growth of the West. The men who settled this new country 



352 National Growth and European Interference 

did so under the protection and t^overnment of the nation, and 
not of the states. The states in which they Hved had been 
made states by the national g'ovcrnment, and in their minds, 
therefore, the state would be subordinate to the nation. 

Another thing' that caused the growth of national unity was 
a series of important decisions made by the Supreme Court 
of the United States. These decisions established more firmly 
the authority of the national government, and in many cases 
specifically defined the limits of the state governments. Among 
the more important of these decisions were : — 

1. McCulloch I's. Maryland. In this case the state of Mary- 

land attempted to tax the United States Bank; but the 
Supreme Court held that the bank could not be thus 
taxed, because it was in part a national institution. 

2. Fletcher 7X Peck. In this case the court held that the 

state of Georgia could not revoke grants of land even 
if they had been obtained by fraud, because such action 
on the jiurt of the state would be a violation of contract, 
which the national Constitution says shall not be im- 
paired. 

3. Dartmouth College Case. In this case New Hampshire 

attempted to modify the charter of Dartmouth College. 
The court held that this could not be done, because the 
effect would be to impair the obligation of a contract 
and the modification would therefore be a violation of 
the Constitution. 

The chief influence working against the growth of national 
tmity, as a whole, was slavery. While not an active factor dur- 
ing this period, it was surely though slowly undermining the 
unity of the nation by causing the North and the South to de- 
velop industrially and socially along different lines. Thus dif- 
ferent interests sprang up in the two sections, and the conditions 
which caused the conflict of the following period were begin- 
ning to shape themselves definitely. The attitude of the two 
sections of the country, and the strength of slavery in the 
South, are shown in the Missouri Compromise, which was the 
first struggle of the long conflict that came to dominate all 



Institutional Life 353 

questions and to threaten the existence of the nation, and which 
was ended only by a long and bloody civil war. 

INSTITUTIONAL LIFE 

191. Introductory. — During the period from the close of 
the Revolution to 1838, institutional life in the United States 
was gradually changing from colonial conditions. The in- 
dustrial growth of the nation along a number of important 
lines was very great. This is seen in the rise of manufactures 
in the New England and the middle states ; in the South set- 
tling down to even a more strictly agricultural basis ; in the 
great development of commerce between the East and the 
West ; in the marked improvement in means of transportation 
and communication which this commerce helped to bring about ; 
and in the many valuable inventions. In the institutions of 
social life and government there was a marked growth toward 
democracy. The aristocratic forms, ceremonies, and distinc- 
tions based on class were gradually dying out except in the 
South. In religious matters a much more liberal spirit gradu- 
ally developed and there was a distinct improvement along 
educational lines during the latter part of this period. In 
order to understand the importance of these many changes in 
the institutional life of the nation during this period, it is neces- 
sary to understand the conditions of institutional life in the 
colonies. It is urged, therefore, that the subject of "Institu- 
tional Life in the Colonies" be read or reviewed very carefully 
before continuing further the study of institutional life for 
the period now being considered. This review is of the utmost 
importance and should not be omitted. 

192. Manufactures: (a) Condition of up to about 1800. 
— During colonial times there were many sawmills and grist- 
mills in the New England and the middle states. There were 
also in these northern states many articles of common use made 
or manufactured by the family. This is sometimes called 
household manufacturing. Among the articles thus made 
were household utensils, clothing, and farming implements. 
Many small shops were also devoted to making these things. In 
Pennsylvania considerable iron ore was mined, made into pig 



354 National Growth and European Interference 

iron, and exported. The people of the South did not make 
articles of common use, as did the people of the North, but im- 
ported all tin- nianulactured goods consumed. I'Vom all this 
it will he seen that at the time of the Revolution the South had 
no manufactures at all, and that while in New Entjland there 
were a large number of things made in many small shops, there 
were no large manufacturing establishments. Up to about the 
year 1800 there had been but very little increase in manufactur- 
ing in the United States ; but there was soon to be a decided 
improvement along this line. The embargo policy of Jefferson 
and the War of 1S12 prevented the importation of manufac- 
tured goods. This condition of things caused the Americans 
to engage in manufacturing, and by 1810 a complete change 
had taken place in this industry. 

(b) Influence of Nc-iv Weaving Machinery; The Cotton 
Gin. — The increase in the manufacture of cotton goods was 
especially rapid, and a great increase in the manufacture of 
woolen goods soon followed, all of which was due largely to 
the inventions in England of spinning and weaving machinery. 
These valuable inventions had been made by Hargreaves, Ark- 
wright, Crompton, and Cartwright, between 17(')7 and 1785. 
Improved machinery made the manufacture of clothing much 
faster, easier, and clK'a]icr. and iiulncod many men in England 
and America to invest their money in this industry. The great 
difficult V about 17 !H) was to get cotton enough to supply this 
new machinery. It reciniretl so much time and labor to sepa- 
rate the cotton seed from the cotton iiber that the production 
of cotton in large quantities was very difficult. But this also 
was soon to be changed. In 1703 Eli Whitney, a New Eng- 
land schoolmaster then living in Georgia, invented a little 
device or machine by the use of which one slave could sepa- 
rate as nuich cotton seed from the liber in one day as about 
three hundred slaves could by the old method. This greatly 
increased the production of cotton in the v^cnith. and gave an 
ample supply f(~ir the new machinery, both in F.urope and 
America. 

The rapid growth of cotton and woolen manufactures in the 
Ignited States from about 1805 to 18'?v' was due mainlv, there- 



Institutional Life 



355 




The First Cotton Gin 



fore, to the invention of new spinnini^- and weaving machinery, 
and to the non-importation of mannfactured' goods from 
Europe, the European goods heing kept out by the Embargo 
Acts, the War of 1812, and the protective tariff. There was 
also great advance during the latter part of this period in the 
manufacture of iron goods 
and in the manufacture of 
leather, glass, and paper. In 
1800 the amount of money 
invested in mailufactures in 
the New England and"' the 
middle states was not great, 
and the number of people em- 
ployed in this industry was 
not great ; but the advance 
was so rapid that by 1828 
America produced manu- 
factured goods worth about 
three hundred million dollars, and the number of people em- 
ployed in factories had increased to more than one hundred 
fifty thousand. 

193. Agriculture. — While the North was thus devoting 
more and more of its time and capital to manufacture, the 
South and the great and rapidly growing West continued to 
devote nearly all their time to agriculture. The West would 
naturally do this, because as yet it was quite young and had 
had no chance to develop manufactures; but this was not true 
of the South, because it was as old as the North. This con- 
dition in the South was due to several things. In the first 
place, manual labor there was performed almost entirely by 
slaves, and slave labor could not be used with profit in manu- 
facturing. As manual labor was considered in the South 
rather plebeian and fit only for slaves, immigrants from Europe 
would not settle there, and thus that section was deprived of 
many skilled mechanics and nnich ca])ital that would have 
been invested in manufactures. 

(a) Growth of Cotton Production. — The invention of new 
spinning and weaving machinery that helped the growth of 



35^ National Growth and European Interference 

manufactures in the North had exactly the opposite effect in 
the South. This new machinery created an immense demand 
for cotton hoth in Europe and in the North. The production 
of cotton, therefore, became nuich more profitable to the South 
than ever before, and the invention of the cotton gin about 
this time made the very extensive production of cotton possible, 
and thus greatly increased the value of slave labor. All this 
tended to restrict the South to the production of cotton, and to 
establish the slavery system still more firmly. The southern plan- 
ters put forth every effort to supply the demand for cotton and 
to secure the slaves necessarv for its production. When Whit- 
ney invented the cotton gin in 1T!).'>, the South exported less 
than one half million pounds of cotton; in 182S she exported 
more than a hundred and sixty million pounds, for which she 
received about twenty-five million dollars. \\'ith such an im- 
mense demand for this product, with a soil and climate especi- 
ally suited to its extensive production, and with the slavery 
system established as the result of the extensive production of 
tobacco, rice, and indigo, it would have been surprising if the 
South had not turned its attention almost entirely to cotton 
raising. It was not long before it became a common saying 
in the South that "cotton is king." The sunny southern cotton 
fields have long been celebrated in poetry and song. 

(b) Other Leading Agrienltural Products. — While by 
1S28 cotton had become the one great staple of the South, large 
quantities of tobacco, rice, and indigo continued to be raised 
there. Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina provided 
most of the tobacco. Most of the rice and indigo was pro- 
duced south of \'irginia. Maryland and \'irginia raised much 
wheat for export. In the southern part of the West the same 
products were raised as in the southern Atlantic states, cotton 
being distinctly the leading crop. In the middle and north- 
western states farm products in great variety were raised, and 
this was also true in the middle and northwestern states. In 
the matter of agriculture, the northern part of the West, there- 
fore, was following the northern part of the East, and it was 
soon to follow it in the matter of manufactures. 



Institutional Life 



357 



194. Commerce and Transportation: (a) Necessity for 
Better Transportation. — It was but natural that the great in- 
crease in the production of manufactured goods, and the ex- 
tensive production of cotton and of many other farm products 
should lead to a large increase in the commerce of the nation. 
This was true. The difficult question was to find some means 
by which a part of the immense quantities of farm products 
that were being raised in the middle and northern West could 
be sent to the eastern states, and some means by which the 
manufactured goods that were being made in the factories of 
the northern Atlantic states could be sent to the West. While 




The Wayside Inn 



the East was becoming more and more in need of the farm 
products of the West, and the West was becoming more and 
more in need of the manufactured goods of the New England 
and the middle states, the Appalachian Mountains made it 
almost impossible to carry on commerce between the two 
sections. 

Wagons could cross the mountains, but transportation of this 
kind over bad roads was too expensive. The products of the 
West could be floated down the Ohio and Mississippi to New 
Orleans, but it was difficult to bring manufactured goods back 

2(1 



358 National Growth and European Interference 

ag^ainst tlic swift streams. In ad<lition to this hindrance, there 
was another siile to the ([uestion of transportation. I'nless a 
faster and cheaper way of transferring" snoods from one part of 
the country to another could he found, the I'.ast and West 
might develop along different lines, and this might in time 
destroy the unity af the nation. The whole question of trans- 
portation became, therefore, more and more serious as the 
West continued to develop. Fortunately for the I'nited States, 
the problem of better means of transportation and comnumi- 
cation have been solved in a very satisfactc^v manner. 

(b) The Steamboat. — The hrst great step toward the solu- 
tion of this problem was the practical application of steam 




The First Trip of Fit.ton's Roat, the Clcixwnt. September. 1S07 
F'roin !i driiwlutr l>.v .1. M. Slu'fwiii 

power to water transportation. In 1807 Robert Fulton suc- 
ceeded in propelling, in a successful and practical manner, a 
boat on the Hudson by means of steam power. In a few years 
steamboats were in general use on the coast and on the inland 
rivers. Before steam was so applied a ship was propelled l)y 
wind power only. A ship, therefore, could not move unless a 
breeze or wind were blowing, and could not advance up a river 
very w'cll against a strong current, even with the assistance of 
the wind. The steamboats could go almost anywhere on the 
water, and as a rule could make nmch better time than vessels 
propelled by the wind. They cc^uld take (he produce of the 



Institutional Life 



359 



West down to New T^rleans and could brinj:^ manufactured 
goods back, whereas the sail boat could not be used with suc- 
cess for soing up the Mississippi and its tributaries a.c^ainst the 
strong currents. 

(c) Roads and Canals. — There were other marked improve- 
ments made in the means of transportation during this period. 
The national government and several of the state governments 
took up the question of roads and canal building. The re- 
sult was the construction of some excellent roads and canals. 
The Erie Canal, which connects the Hudson River and Lake 
Erie, was finished by the state of New York in 1825. This 
canal was of great value to commerce, and especially to that of 




'--'-',1 V 'iHt^SDt 

Stagecoach f)F 182S 



the northern part of the West. The building of steamboats, 
canals, and good roads enabled the peojjle in 1828 to travel 
about twice as fast as they could in ISOO. It still required as 
long, however, to go from Boston to the city of Washington as 
it does at this time to go from Chicago to San Francisco. It 
is very likely that the canal and road construction that was 
going on about 1828 would have resulted in a still further 
great improvement in the means of transportation and com- 
munication between the East and the West. I Jut soon after 
this time steam railroads began to be built, and dm'ing the 
period of Westward Expansion and Slavery, which ends in 
18G0, the means of transportation and communication were 
revolutionized. The discussion of this question will be con- 
tinued at the close of the next period. 



360 National Growth and European Interference 

195. Inventions and Discoveries. — In addition to the in- 
vention of spinning: '^n*^! weaving- machinery, and of the cotton 
gin, and the steamboat, a number of other practical mechanical 
inventions were made during this period. lUit with the ex- 
ception of those just named, most of the great inventions ami 
discoveries that have so changed industrial and social condi- 
tions have been made since then. The threshing machine, the 
reaper, the sewing machine, the telegraph, the steam railroad, 
the coal-oil lamp, the gas light, and many other valuable inven- 
tions and discoveries all came into use during the next period. 
Before IS'?") the farmer cut his wheat with the hand sickle or 




Scene at a Fire in 1800 

scythe and threshed it with the tlail or by tramping it out. The 
women did all their sewing with the needle, and the houses 
were lighted with tallow candles. Scarcely any of the thou- 
sands of labor-saving machines which are now in general use, 
and which are considered absolutely necessary, had been in- 
vented at that time. It is almost impossible for those who are 
living in the twentieth century to realize and to appreciate fully 
the changes wliich have taken ])lace along these lines since 
1S28. The changes which have taken place since then in 
machinery and in means of transportation and comnuuiication 
have been greater than during all the history of the world be- 
fore that time. 



Institutional Life 361 

196. Social Conditions: (a) Class Distinction in the 
South. — Between the close of the Revolution and the War of 
1813 there was very little chan,i:Te in the dress and amusements 
of the people. The manners and customs of colonial times did 
not change greatly until the latter part of this period. In fact, 
it was not until the coming of the railroad that colonial man- 
ners and customs passed away. There was scarcely any 
change of any kind during this period in the social conditions 
of- the South. There were four distinct classes in southern 
society in the sanje way as in colonial times. The large slave- 
holders, who were usually the owners of large plantations, com- 
prised the upper class. Next to this class came the middle 
class, which consisted of the smaller farmers and of those en- . 
gaged in trade of one kind or another. Next to the middle 
class came the poor whites. The fourth class consisted of the 
large slave population. This continuation of sharp class dis- 
tinction in the South was due to slavery and to the fact that the 
growth of democratic ideas had not taken place in the South 
except to a very limited extent. 

(b) Class Distinction in the North and West. — In the 
North, on the other hand, democratic ideas had grown steadily ; 
especially was this true of the western part of the North. The 
growth of these ideas tended strongly to break down class dis- 
tinction. In the West, where one man was considered as good 
as another irrespective of his birth or wealth, class distinction 
scarcely existed at all. In the eastern part of the North the 
division of society into the three classes which existed in 
colonial times continued to exist until toward the latter part of 
this period, although by that time class distinctions were pass- 
ing away rapidly. The West with its liberal ideas and demo- 
cratic manners and customs had marked influence on the North, 
especially on the middle states. The business intercourse 
between these states and the West was one cause of this. The 
election of Jackson was due largely to the influence of the 
West, and the triumph of democratic ideas in his election 
brought about the rapid destruction of class distinction in the 
North during the period of Westward Expansion and Slavery. 



362 National CJrowth and European Interference 



197. Government. — There was very little chaiii^e in the in- 
stitution of o-overnmcnt durinj;- this period. The ehang^es 
which took place in the national government consisted merely 
in the natural and rational development of the principles set 
forth in the Constitution. In local and state j^overnment the 
growth and modification were natural, and were alonj^ the 

lines laid down durinj;- the pre- 
ceding periods. The organiza- 
tion and government of the new 
territory acquired were hased on 
the Ordinance of 1787. The new 
state governments were organi- 
zed along the same lines as those 
formed during the Revolution, 
which in turn were based on the 
government of the colonies. The 
constitutions of the western 
states were more democratic than 
those of the older states, but 
nearly all the older states had 
amended their constitutions in 
this respect. In ISOO only about 
one person in thirty-tive could 
vote, wliile by 1S->S about one 
person in ten had this right. 
This change was due to the 
change in the constituticMis and 
laws of the various states, which 
was brought about by the growth 
of democratic ideas. The growth 
of these ideas, which was especially rapid in the \\'est, re- 
sulted in the election of Jackson as President in the autumn of 
18'38, and in a fm-thcr amcnilnient of state constitutions during 
the next porind along still more democratic lines. 

198. Religion. — During this ])eriod the spirit of intolerance 
and persecution formerly i')revailing in religious matters was 
broken down, and complete religious liberty was established. 
In most of the colonies, at the beginning of the Revolution, 




Ol'j South Chi-rcii, Boston 



Institutional Life 



363 



a man in order to hold an office or vote was required by law 
to have certain reli.t,dous ideas. These relig^ious qualifications 
were largely done away with during the Revolution, and 
church and state soon became completely separated in all the 
states. Many new religious denominations or sects came into 
existence, and national organizations of these various churches 
were formed. 

199. Education. — For about twenty-five or thirty years 
after the beginning (A the Revolution, education in the United 




The University of Vikgixi.v 
As desiffiicd Ijy Thomas Jefferson 

States went backward. This was true with regard to the 
grammar school, the academy, and the college. In addition 
to the schools of all grades becoming poorer and less attended, 
there were no great American writers during this time. About 
LSIO a change for the better aUjng educational and literary 
lines began. Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cofjper 
commenced writing about this time, and a little later William 
Cullen r.ryant began his literary work. In the latter part of 
this period the common school system began to be developed, 



364 National Growth and European Interference 



and especially was this true in a number of the western states. 
Congress provided that at least one section out of every 
thirty-six sections of public land in the West should be set 
aside for the benefit of education. This wise and liberal 

policy was just beginning to have 
a good effect in building up 
schools, and since then it has be- 
come a mighty power in ad- 
vancing free public education in 
the United States. Between 1815 
and 1828 a large number of stu- 
dents began attending the col- 
leges, and about 1825 Boston and 
some of the other eastern cities 
established high schools. All this 
indicates that toward the end of 
this period there began to be an 
improvement in common school, 
high school, and college educa- 
tion. While this improvement 
continued slowly throughout all 
Painted by D. Wiikie at Seville, the next period, the real growth 

A pril 23. 1828 , i , ^ , ^ , , . 

and development of the free public 
school system, including elementary schools, secondary schools, 
normal schools, and universities, have taken place since the 
Civil War. 




Washington Irving 



Questions and Topics 365 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 

Questions for Class Recitations 

Into what two periods does the history of the United States be- 
tween 1789 and i860 naturally divide itself? Explain fully why the 
first period may be called National Growth and European Inter- 
ference. Explain fully why the second period may be called West- 
ward Expansion and Slavery. 

THE PERIOD OF EUROPEAN INTERFERENCE 

Questions for Class Recitations 

(In connection with the questions on The Period of European 
Interference, each pupil should read the third number of Hart's 
"Source Readers in American History," pp 217-315. See "Explan- 
atory and Suggestive," page ix.) Who made the laws of France 
about the time Washington was first elected President of the 
United States? Compare the powers which the French people had 
in making their laws at that time with the power which the Amer- 
ican people had in making their laws. Describe the way in which 
the French government and the nobles treated the common people. 
How did this treatment cause the French people to feel toward 
their government? In what way did the American Revolution and 
the part which France took in it help to cause the French Revo- 
lution? Describe some of the things which took place in France 
during this Revolution. In what way were these acts the natural 
result of the bad treatment which the French people had received 
from their government? How did the French Revolution lead to 
war between France and England? Explain fully why the French 
expected the Americans to help them in this war. Describe the 
work of Genet in the United States. Describe fully the attitude 
of the Americans toward France in this war. What was the atti- 
tude of Washington? Explain the Neutrality Proclamation. Ex- 
plain fully why the principle of American Neutrality in European 
Affairs which this proclamation established is of very great im- 
portance in the history of the United States. How is this principle 
related to the Monroe Doctrine? 

Explain the Rule of 1756. Illustrate how it was applied to 
America. Describe the Impressment Policy of Great Britain. 
How did this policy affect America, and how was it received by the 
Americans? What was the general attitude of the English gov- 
ernment toward the United States after the American Revolution? 
How was the war with England averted at this time? What was 



366 National Growth and European Interference 

the nature of the Jay Treaty? How was it received by the Amer- 
ican people? How was it received in France? What was the 
effect of the Genet affair and the Neutrality Proclamation on 
France? Explain the X. Y. Z. Affair. What effect did this treat- 
ment of the American commissioners have on the American gov- 
ernment and the American people? Describe the preparations for 
war with France, and the few battles which took place between 
some of the war vessels of the two nations. How was war be- 
tween France and the United States averted? 

How did the firm stand which the Federalists took in the trouble 
with France cause the people to feel toward the Federalist party? 
What led to the passage of the Alien and Sedition Laws? Explain 
the Alien Laws. What was the object of these laws? To what 
extent were they enforced? Explain the Sedition Act. What was 
the object of this act? To what extent was it enforced? How 
were the Alien and Sedition Acts received by the people? What 
effect did their passage have on the Federalist party? Upon what 
grounds did the Republicans oppose the Alien and Sedition Acts? 
How did these laws lead to the passage of the Virginia and Ken- 
tucky Resolutions? Who was the author of each set of these reso- 
lutions? Explain carefully the principles which these resolutions 
stated. In what respect did the Kentucky and the Virginia Reso- 
lutions differ? What would have been the effect on the national 
government if the principles stated in the resolutions had been 
carried out? How were the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions 
received by the legislatures of the other states? Why are these 
resolutions important? 

Why did the United States and especially the people in the 
western part desire to have control of the Mississippi? When 
Spain had control of it, what rights did she grant the United 
States, and why were these rights of great value to the western 
people? Why did the United States object to Spain ceding Louis- 
iana to France? When it became known that France had secured 
this territory, what conditions made Jefferson anxious to* buy the 
territory at the mouth of the Mississippi with as little delay as 
possible? W'hat conditions in Europe made Napoleon willing to 
sell the entire Louisiana Territory? Why did he sell it to the 
United States? 

When did Napoleon secure control of the T^'rench government 
and bring the French Revolution to an end? Describe briefly the 
relation of France to the rest of Europe from 1803 to 1S15. Why 
did France and England each try to destroy the commerce of the 
other? Explain carefully the I'ritisli "Orders in Council" and the 
French "Decrees." WMien is a port actually blockaded? Explain 
carefully how the Orders in Council and Decrees injured American 
commerce. Describe the way in which the British' at this time 



Questions and Topics 367 

were enforcing the so-called "Riglit of Search." Wliat do you 
think the United States should have done under these circum- 
stances? What was Jefferson's attitude toward the army and 
navy? What was his policy toward England and France? De- 
scribe the Embargo Act. Describe the Enforcement Act. What 
was the effect of the Embargo Act on England and France? 
What was its effect on the United States? In what waj^ did the 
Non-Importation Act dififer from the Embargo Act? 

Discuss or review the causes and conditions which led to the 
War of 1812. Explain carefully in what important respects the 
Congress which met in December, 1811, differed from those which 
immediately preceded it. Why would the nature of the new Con- 
gress naturally lead to war? Why was war declared against Eng- 
land instead of against France? Describe the condition of the 
American army at the beginning of the war. Describe the con- 
dition of the navy at this time. How would the poor condition of 
the army and navy naturally affect the success of the Americans in 
the war? What other conditions at the beginning of the war 
tended to prevent American success? Describe the war on land 
during the year 1812. Describe the war on land during the year 
1813. Describe the war on land during the year 1814. Describe 
the battle of New Orleans. Explain why this battle would not 
have been fought if the War of 1812 had taken place since 1850. 
Describe carefully the war on sea. State the terms of the treaty of 
peace. Describe some of the more important results of the war. 

Why were the people of New England opposed to Jefferson's 
embargo and non-importation policy and to the War of 1812? 
Discuss the causes of the Hartford convention. What was the 
object of holding this convention? What did this convention do? 
Compare the work of this convention with the Virginia and Ken- 
tucky Resolutions. 

Why did the United States wish to buy Florida? What caused 
Spain to become willing to sell it? What were the terms of the 
purchase? 

Describe the conditions which led to the formation of the Holy 
Alliance. What was the object of this alliance? Why did Great 
Britain and the United States object to its proposal to help Spain 
recover the Spanish-American colonies? Describe the- claim of 
Russia on the Pacific coast at this time. Describe the attitude of 
Secretary Adams on this question.. Explain carefully all the cir- 
cumstances and conditions that caused Monroe to insert in his 
message to Congress the statement known as the Monroe Doc- 
trine. Explain the Monroe Doctrine and show how it is related to 
the principle of American Neutrality in European Affairs. Ex- 
plain carefully why the period of European Interference ends with 
the Monroe Doctrine. 



368 National Growth and European Interference 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Discuss the reason for dividing the history of the United States 
between 1789 and i860 into the periods of National Growth and 
European Interference, and Westward Expansion and Slavery. 
Discuss the origin of the principle of American Neutrality in 
European Affairs, and explain why this principle has been very 
important in the history of the United States. Discuss the con- 
ditions leading to the Jay Treaty and the results of the treaty. 
Discuss the breach with I'Vance. Discuss the Alien and Sedition 
Acts, and the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. Discuss the 
conditions leading to tiie purchase of Louisiana. Discuss the 
causes of tlic War nf 1812, including Orders in Council, Decrees, 
and embargo policy of Jefferson. Discuss the war on land. Dis- 
cuss the war on sea. Discuss the results of the war. Discuss the 
Hartford convention. Discuss the Monroe Doctrine, including its 
causes and effects. 

FINANCIAL LEGISLATION: THE TARIFF 

Questions for Class Recitations 

E.xplain fully the financial condition of the national government 
at the time Washington became President. What was the object 
of the first tariff? Explain fully each part of Hamilton's financial 
plan. How was his plan received by Congress? What effect did 
the adoption of Hamilton's financial measures have on the credit 
of the United States? Explain carefully how these measures 
strengthened the national government. In what condition were 
the financial affairs of the national government at the time Jeffer- 
son became President? How did Jefferson propose to reduce tax- 
ation and the national debt? To what extent were he and Gallatin 
successful in doing this? Explain hmv their measures affected the 
army and navy. Discuss the rise of state banks. What prevented 
the renewal of the charter of the United States Bank in 181 1? 
What caused its renewal in 1S16? 

What is meant by a tariff as used in connection witli national 
legislation? Exjilain carefully what is meant b\' a tariff for rev- 
enue only. Explain carefully what is meant by a tariff for revenue 
and for the protection of home industries also. Discuss the value 
of the principle of protection as used in connection with the tariff. 
What was the object of the first tariff law that Congress passed? 
What was the main object of all the tariff laws that were passed 
by Congress before 1816? Explain carefully how the War of 181 2 
led to the passage of the protective tariff law of 1816. Discuss the 
growth of the idea of protection. Discuss the growth of the prin- 
ciple of the protective tariff. 



Questions and Topics 369 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Discuss the object, nature, and result of "Hamilton's financial 
plan. Discuss the object, nature, and result of Jefferson and Gal- 
latin's financial policy. Discuss the history of the United States 
Bank during this period, including the rise of state banks and their 
effect on the United States Bank. Give a carfeful discussion of the 
history of the tariff during this period. 

POLITICAL PARTIES 

Questions for Class Recitations 

' Explain carefully what caused the rise of political parties and 
why they continue to exist. What is the value of political parties? 
What was the first great question that caused the people of the 
United States to divide themselves into political parties? Explain 
carefully the meaning of what is called the elastic clause of the 
Constitution. Explain carefully what is meant by the "loose inter- 
pretation of the Constitution." Explain carefully what is meant 
by the "strict interpretation of the Constitution." State which of 
these two interpretations tends to create a strong national govern- 
ment, and give reasons for your answer. 

Name some of the more important leaders of the Federalist 
party. Name the Federalist Presidents and state when each was 
President. Explain carefully the main principles and ideas of this 
party. Describe briefly the work of the Federalist party. Explain 
how the ideas of this party were out of harmony with the spirit 
of the times. Discuss the conditions and the things that caused 
the Federalist party to lose control of the government, and finally 
to cease to exist. 

Name some of the more important leaders of the Republican 
party. Name the Republican Presidents, and state when each was 
President. Explain carefully the main principles and ideas of this 
party. Discuss the decline and fall of the Republican party. The 
promises on which the Republican party secured control of the 
government involved what two general principles? Explain in 
what way this party carried out one of these principles. Explain 
carefully the conditions and circumstances that caused it not to 
carry out the other promise. Explain why the party in power 
usually gives a loose interpretation to the Constitution, and why 
the party out of power usually opposes this. 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Discuss the origin and value of political parties in the United 
States. Discuss the principles, growth, and decline of the Feder- 



3/0 National Growth and European Interference 

alist party. Discuss likewise the principles, growth, and decline of 
the Republican party. 

GROWTH OF THE NATION 
Questions for Cl.\ss Recit.'Ktions 

(In connection with the questions on the Growth of the Nation, 
each pupil should read the third number of Hart's "Source Read- 
ers in American History," pp. 143-215. See "Explanatory and Sug- 
gestive," page ix.) Compare the area of the United States at the 
close of the Revolution with its area at the end of the period of 
National Growth and European Interference. Compare the set- 
tled area of the nation at these different times, showing the direc- 
tion in which the settled area was growing. Compare the popula- 
tion of the United States at the close of the Revolution with the 
population in 1828. (Each pupil should draw a map illustrating 
the growth of the total and settled areas of the United States 
during this period.) Describe carefully the condition that caused 
so many people to settle during this period in the country between 
the Mis.sissippi and the Appalachian Mountains. What conditions 
have always caused a rush of settlers westward? What is meant 
by the statement that the population moved westward in parallel 
lines from the northern and southern Atlantic coast states? Ex- 
plain how this caused industrial and social conditions to differ in 
the northern and the southern sections of the western country. 

Discuss the formation of new states in the western territory. 
Why were the constitutions of these western states more demo- 
cratic than those of the eastern states? What is meant by internal 
improvements as used in national affairs? How did the growth of 
the West make the matter of internal improvements a question of 
national importance? What internal improvements were made 
during this period by the national and state governments? Ex- 
plain how the Ordinance of 1787 affected slavery in the western 
territory. How was the question of slavery settled in that part of 
the western territory south of the Ohio and east of the .Mississippi? 
Why did the application of Missouri fur admission to the Union 
cause a struggle over slavery? What had caused the gradual 
abolition of slavery in the North? What had caused slavery to 
become more firmly established in the South? How did this dif- 
ference between the North and the South affect the question of the 
extension of slavery into the Louisiana Territory? Explain care- 
fully all the conditions and circumstances that led to the Missouri 
Compromise. Explain the terms of this compromise. How did 
this compromise affect the question of slavery? 

How did the interference with American affairs by Europe aid 
the growth of American national unity? What was the effect of 



Questions and Topics 371 

the War of 1812 on national life? How did the purchase of Louis- 
iana and Florida aid the growth of national unity? Explain how 
the rapid development of the West aided this growth. Explain 
carefully how some of the Supreme Court decisions strengthened 
the national government. Explain how slavery was gradually 
causing the North and the South to drift farther and farther apart. 

Questions for Co]\[positions and Examinations 

Discuss the growth of the United States in territory and popu- 
lation during this -period. Discuss the causes of the rapid growth 
of. the West. How were industrial and social conditions in the 
West directly related to those in the East? Discuss the formation 
of new states in the western territory. How was the question of 
slavery settled in the western territory east of the JMississippi? 
Discuss the causes, terms, and results of the Missouri Compromise. 
Discuss the growth of national unity during this period. 



INSTITUTIONAL LIFE 

Questions for Class Recitations 

What is meant by the statement that during the period from the 
close of the Revolution to 1828 institutional life in the United 
States was gradually changing from colonial conditions? What 
was the nature of the change in industrial conditions? What was 
the nature of the change in the institutions of social life and gov- 
ernment? What was the nature of the change in the institutions 
of religion and education? (Before continuing farther with this 
work the pupil should review carefully the subject of "Institutional 
Life in the Colonies." This review is very important and should 
not be omitted.) 

Describe briefly the condition of manufactures in the colonies. 
Explain how the Embargo Acts and the War of 1S12 caused the 
growth of American manufactures. In what way was the inven- 
tion of machinery related to the incrca: e in the manufacture of 
cotton and woolen goods? ^^'llat rchitinn had the cotton gin to 
this increase? Describe briefly the growth of the manufacturing 
industry in the ITnitcd States up to about 1828. In wliat part of 
the nation did this growth take place? \\'hy did manufactures not 
develop in the West during tliis period? Explain carefully why 
manufactures were not developed in the South. Discuss carefully 
the causes of the growth of the cotton indu^ try. What were some 
of the other important farm products of the South? Discuss the 
condition of agriculture in the West and in the northern Atlantic 
states. 



3/2 National Growth and European Interference 

Explain how tlie growth in manufacturing and agriculture af- 
fected the commerce of the nation. Explain carefullj' how the 
growth of the West brought about conditions that made better 
means of transportation and communication very desirable. De- 
scribe the effect that the invention of the steamboat had on trans- 
portation. Describe some other important improvements that 
were made in the means of transportation during this period. 
What were some of the more important inventions and discoveries 
made up to i8j8? How do they compare with those that have 
been made since? 

(In connection with the questions on Social Conditions, each 
pupil should read tiie third number of Hart's "Source Readers in 
American History," pp. 1-14J.) Discuss the changes which took 
place in the manners and customs of the people during the period 
of National Growth and European Interference. Describe the 
classes which existed in southern society during this time. Ex- 
plain carefully why there had been scarcely anj' changes in south- 
ern society since the Revolution. Explain how the growth of 
democratic ideas affected class distinctions in the North. Discuss 
the effect of the West on class distinctions in the East. Explain 
the relation of Jackson's election to the destruction of class dis- 
tinctions. Explain carefully the changes which took place in the 
national government during this period. What kind of state gov- 
ernments did the western states have? How did the state govern- 
ments of the East and the West differ as to nature? What caused 
the state governments during this period to become more demo- 
cratic? ^^'hat changes in religious conditions occurred during this 
period? (In connection with the questions on Education, each 
pupil should read the third number of Hart's "Source Readers in 
American History," pp. 317-371) What was the condition of edu- 
cation in the United States from the close of the Revolution to 
about 1810? What was the cause of this? In what waj- was and 
is the public land directly related to the common school system? 
Describe the improvement that took place in the schools during 
the latter part of this period. Who were some of the more import- 
ant .\merican writers of tliis period? 

QrESTION'S FOR CoMrOSTTlOXS AXn Ex.\MIN.\TIONS 

Discuss the nature of the institutional changes that took place 
during this period. Discuss the growth and development of man- 
ufactures. Discuss the growth of agriculture. Discuss the growth 
of commerce, and the improvement in the means of transportation 
and communication. Discuss the changes in social conditions. 
Discuss the changes in government. Discuss the condition of 
education. 



WESTWARD EXPANSION AND 
SLAVERY 



27 



OLD IRONvSIDES 

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down! 

Long has it waved on high, 
And many an eye has danced to see 

That banner in the sky: 
Beneath it rung the battle shout, 

And burst the cannon's roar; — 
The meteor of the ocean air 

Shall sweep the clouds no more. 

Her deck — once red with heroes' blood, 

Where knelt the vanquished foe, 
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood, 

And waves were white below — 
No more shall feel the victor's tread, 

Or know the conquered knee; 
The harpies of the shore shall pluck 

The eagle of the sea. 

Oh! better that her shattered hulk 

Should sink beneath the wave; 
Her thunders shook the mighty deep. 

And there should be her grave. 
Nail to the mast her holy flag. 

Set every threadbare sail. 
And give her to the god of storms — 

The lightning and the gale. 

— Oliver Wendell Holmes 



Copyright by Uouyhton, Mifflin <f Co. 



WESTWARD EXPANSION AND SLAVERY 

Introductory 

I. Character of Period 

II. The Meaning of Jackson's Election 

POLITICAL METHODS AND POLITICAL PARTIES 

I. Political ^Methods 

1. The Spoils System 

2. Change in the Method of Electing Electors 

3. National Nominating Conventions, Platforms, and Cam- 

paigns 

II. Political Parties 

1. The Formation of New Parlies 

2. The Democratic Party 

3. The Whig Party 

4. The Republican Party 

FINANCIAL LEGISLATION: THE TARIFF 

I. The Tariff 

1. The Tariff of 1828: the Doctrine of Nullification 

2. Other Changes in the Tariff 

11. Destruction of the United States Bank 

III. The Panic of. 1837 

1. Era of Speculation: the Specie Circular 

2. The Distribution of the Surplus: the Crisis 

IV. The Independent or Subtreasury System 

GROWTH OF THE NATION IN TERRITORY AND 
POPULATION 

I. The Oregon Territory 

II. Annexation of Texas 

III. The Mexican War 

IV. Growth in Territory and Popukition: the Pacific Coast 

373 



374 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

THE SLAVERY QUESTION 

1. Conditions Aflfoctiny; tlie Growth of Slavery 

II. Rise of the Abolitionists 

111. The Compromise of 1850 

W. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill and the Dred Scott Decision 

\'. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates: the Election of Lincoln 

\T. Review and Conclusions 

INSTITUTIONAL LIEE 

I. Industrial Conditions 

1. Nature of Development 

2. Improvement in the Moans of Transportation and Com- 

munication 

3. Other Inventions and Discoveries 

4. Agriculture and Manufactures 

5. Commerce and Cities 

II. Social Conditions 

1. Classes of Society 

2. Dress and Amusements 

III. Government 

1. Nature of Development 

2. Change in Manner of Selecting Judges 

IV. Religion 

\'. Education 

1. The Public Schools 

2. Literature 



Westward Expansion and Slavery 37^ 

WESTWARD I'.XI'AXSION AND SLAVERY 

Introductory 

200. Character of Period.— Tlu' period of W'cstwartl 1\\- 
pansion aiul Slavery cxtetulod from about IS'.'S to the C'wW 
War. .\s already noted, its main features or eliaracteristies 
were the continued _s;rowtli of the nation in territory, woaltli, 
and iiopulation, and the struggle over the extensitm of slavery 
into the territory' west of the Mississippi. During the preceding- 
period the nation had, to a large extent, thrown oft' its colonial 
conditions and traditions, antl had become independent of 
luirope in fact as well as in name. Now, the great ([uestion (^f 
slavery and other important diMuestic questions, which had 
been gradually shaping themselves, came to the front, and 
the life oi the nation centered around them during this entire 
period. 

201. Meaning of Jackson's Election: (a) C'roictli of 
Liberal Ih'inocratic Ideas. — During the period of National 
Growth and E.uropean Interference theie had been a steady 
growth among the people of liberal democratic ideas. The 
first results of this growth were the election of jelTerson in 
ISOO, and doing away with the aristocratic etiquette and cere- 
monies which the Federalists had introduced in connection with 
the official work of the national government. Another result 
was the extensiiMi of the right to vote. When Washington 
first became President, not more than one person out of every 
forty had the right to vote, while in 1S',?S about four persons 
out of this innnber had this right. The breaking down of the 
distinction between classes was another result o{ the growth 
of these ideas. In the North, and especially in the great and 
rapidly growing West, the people were no longer divided into 
well-defined classes, allhongh they still w t're in the v^outh. 
The people were coming to believe, more and more, that ;i pei- 
son should be vahu'd for his real character, .and not because of 
his birth or his wealth. Thus, (.luring the preceding period. 



3/6 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

these democratic ideas secured first one change and then ano- 
ther in the i)rinciples of government and society. Ikit the great 
triumph of these ideas was the election of Jackson in 1838. 

(b) Predominance of Aristocracy np to IS'iS. — Up to this 
time the office of President had been held by six different men. 
They all belonged to the upper class. Washington, Jefferson, 
IMadison, and Monroe were from X'irginia, and belonged to the 
aristocracy of that state. Each of these four men had been 
President for two terms. John Adams and his son, John 
Ouincy Adams, the other two of these first six Presidents, were 
from Boston, and belonged to the upper class or aristocracy 
of that city. Each of these last two men had been President 
but one term. Jefferson did not believe as did the leaders of 
the Federalist party, that the right to vote should be restricted 
to the well-educated and wealthy classes, nor did he believe that 
the forms and ceremonies of government should be very aristo- 
cratic. In his private life, however, Jeft'crson was strongly 
aristocratic, and he believed, as did the Federalists, that the 
higher officers of the national government should be from the 
well-educated and cultured classes. 

The election of Jackson, therefore, was contrary to the ideas 
of Jefferson and the Republican party, as well as to the ideas 
of W'ashington and Hamilton and the Federalist party, because 
Jackson was one of the common people. He was among the 
early settlers of the territory which afterward became the state 
of Tennessee. His life had been an almost continuous struggle 
with poverty and adverse circumstances. He was not nearly 
so well educated nor so cultured as were the first six Presi- 
dents. He was blunt in manner and speech, headstrong, and 
independent. He typified the rough frontier life of the western 
states. Absolutely honest himself, he sometimes placed too 
much confidence in men who were not honest. His election 
marks the complete triumph of democracy in the United 
States. When he took the oath of office in ]\larch, 1820, great 
crowds of people, who hafl come to the city of Washington 
from the North, from the South, and from the West, rejoiced 
because at last one of their own number had become President. 

(c) State Democracy of Jefferson; National Democracy 



Westward Expansion and Slavery 377 

of Jackson. — Jackson's election marked the triumph of another 
principle of government quite different from that in which 
Jefferson believed. Jefferson believed in democracy, but that 




Andrew Jackson 

which he had in mind was a state democracy. He believed 
that within each state the will of the people should be supreme, 
and that the national government should not interfere at all 
with the rights, powers, and laws of the states, because the 
government of a state represented the desires and wishes of its 



37^ Westward Expansion and Slavery 

people. Jefferson did not carry out these principles very well 
as President, but they represent his ideas of what the govern- 
ment should be. 

Jackson, like Jefferson, believed in democracy and that the 
will of the people should be carried out ; but Jackson's demo- 
cracy was a national democracy and not a state democracy. 
He believed that the national government should be absolutely 
supreme so long as it did not exceed the powers granted to it 
by the Constitution. He gave a strict construction to the Con- 
stitution, which the Federalists and Republicans had not done, 
but he was determined that the national laws should be 
supreme, and he was prepared to invade any state that violated 
those laws, and if necessary, even to hang every person who 
interfered with their enforcement. He had no belief in the. 
theory that the Constitution was a contract or agreement be- 
tween the states. His idea was that the Constitution was 
adopted by the people of the whole nation without regard to 
state lines, and that therefore the national government repre- 
sented the will of the people of the entire nation. It thus 
becomes plain that Jackson's election was the triumph of 
national democracy as opposed to Jefferson's idea of state 
democracy. 

POLITICAL METHODS AND POLITICAL PARTIES 

202. Political Methods: (a) The Spoils System. — Dur- 
ing Jackson's two tenns of office there was a complete change 
in national political methods and political parties. It was 
during this time that the Spoils System was introduced into the 
politics of the nation. This system consists in the giving of as 
many offices as possible to those who have helped elect the suc- 
cessful candidates. Almost every officer, from the county offi- 
cials to the President of the United States, has the power of ap- 
pointing persons to office. I f the candidate elected be a Demo- 
crat, he usually appoints Democrats; if Jr? be a Republican, he 
usually appoints Republicans. No matter how faithfully an 
officer may have perfomied his duties, his position is usually 
given to some member of the successful party, and often the 
new officer is less competent than the one whose place he takes. 



m\ 



Political Methods and Political Parties 379 

As a result of this policy, public business frequently suffers 
serious injury. 

The Spoils System had already been introduced into the 
politics of New York, but Jackson was responsible for its in- 
troduction into national politics. He was most loyal to his 
friends, and bitterly opposed to his enemies. He could see 
nothing- bat! in a friend, and but little good in an enemy. He 
wished to rew.ard those who had worked for his election, and 
decided that he could do this nicely by putting them in the 
offices that were under his control. He claimed that a change 
or rotation in office was democratic and a good thing ; that to 
the victor belonged the spoils of office — that the successful can- 
didate might fill the offices under his control with personal fol- 
lowers. During the first nine months of his administration, 
Jackson removed more than one thousand men from office, 
whereas the first six Presidents together, during the first forty 
years of the nation's history under the Constitution, had re- 
moved less than one hundred, and those thus removed had been 
removed for good cause and not because of their political con- 
nections. Since Jackson's time the successful candidates of all 
parties have removed men from office because of politics, and 
have appointed members of their own party to the positions 
thus made vacant. Since ISTl the evil effects of this policy 
have been greatly lessened by the enactment of national legis- 
lation known as the Civil Service Laws. These laws require 
that certain officials be selected by means of examinations, and 
that officers thus selected cannot be removed for political 
reasons. 

(b) Choiigc in the Method of Blect'uii!; Electors. — For a 
long time after the Constitution went into effect the great mass 
of the people took but little active part in the elections for 
President. This was due to the fact that the men — called 
electors — whom each state selected to choose the President and 
Vice President were not, as a rule, nominated by a political 
party, and were often not voted for by the people. In some 
of those states where the people had the right to vote for the 
electors, the latter were usually nominated by the legislature. 
In manv states the electors were chosen directlv bv the les:is- 



380 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

lature, and the people did not have the rii^ht to vote for them. 
Even as late as 1H28 the electors in Delaware and South Caro- 
lina were elected by the legislature. Under these circum- 
stances electors would often be more or less independent w'hen 
votinp^ for candidates for President and Vice President. This 
was exactly as those who framed the Constitution had intended. 
They desired that each elector should vote for men whom 
he thought best qualified for these important positions, and that 
his vote should not be influenced by politics or friendship. Al- 
most from the very first, however, this intention was not 
carried out. A state legislature, as a rule, would choose as 
electors only those who would vote as it desired. Under all 
these circumstances the people took very little active part in 
the elections for President and Vice President. 

But the growth of liberal democratic ideas w^orked a com- 
plete change in this matter. By the new state constitutions of 
the West, and by amendments to many of the state constitu- 
tions of the East, the people of nearly all the states gradually 
secured the right to vote for the electors. This was soon to 
bring about a change in the attitude of the people toward the 
election of President. In some of the states, during the presi- 
dential election of 1824, the friends of each of the various 
candidates nominated electors who were pledged to vote for 
their candidates. Thus there were several sets of men in the 
same state running for electors. This caused the people for 
the first time in the history of the nation to take some real 
interest in the election for President and Vice-President, but in 
many of the states the people were not interested very much 
in this election. During the campaign that resulted in the elec- 
tion of Jackson in 1828, there were in most of the states more 
than one set of men running for electors. As a result^ the 
interest and the part which the people as a whole took in this 
election were much greater than they had ever before taken in 
any similar election, more than twice as many votes being cast 
for the electors as were cast in the presidential election of 1824. 

(c) A'ationa! Nomiiiafiui^ Conventions, Platforms, and 
Ganipaigns. — During Jackson's first term other important 
changes in political methods took place. New political parties 



Political Methods and Political Parties 381 

were organized, and for the first time in the nation's history 
national political organizations were formed. Before 1833 
the candidates for President and Vice President had been nomi- 
nated by a caucns of party leaders in Congress or by state legis- 
latures. The nominating of these candidates now passed into 
the hands of the people. The three candidates for President 
and the three candidates for \'ice President in the campaign 
of 1832 were nominated by national conventions composed of 
delegates selected by the members of the various parties in the 
different states. Jackson, however, was not formally nominated 
by the Democratic convention, because the people knew that 
he was the candidate of the Democratic party. Each of the 
parties in a state would send a certain number of delegates to 
its national convention, and would nominate men for electors 
who were pledged to vote for the candidates of the party. 

Each of these first three national conventions, in addition to 
nominating a man for President and one for Vice President in 
the campaign of 1832, issued a statement of what the party 
believed and what it would do in case it secured control of the 
government. These statements are called platforms. They 
were the first ones of a national character ever issued in 
America. 

In 1832, therefore, after liberal democratic ideas had been 
steadily growing among the people for almost forty-four years, 
the people secured complete control of the government. In 
each state the political parties held state conventions. These 
state conventions nominated candidates for the various state 
offices and for presidential electors, and selected delegates to 
the national conventions. Each national convention nomi- 
nated candidates for President and Vice President, and declared 
the principles of the party in a statement called a platform. 
There was no longer any lack of interest in presidential elec- 
tions. It became necessary in each state for all the parties to 
do all they could to win votes for their candidates. New and 
active campaign methods were introduced. Stump speaking, 
torchlight processions, and spectacular displays of various 
kinds, such as would rouse enthusiasm among the people, were 
a part of this new order of things. This method of conducting 



382 Westward Expansion and Slavery 



a campaip:n has been continued to the present time, and is used 
in pubHc elections of all kinds, including those for city, county, 
and national officials. 

203. Political Parties: (a) Formation of New Parties. 
— In the presidential election of 1816 the Federalist party car- 
ried but three states. With this crushing- defeat that party 
ceased to exist. During the next eight years the Republican 
party was the only political party in the United States. In 
the campaign for President in 1824 it began to break up into 

personal factions. In 
that campaign Jackson 
received more popular 
votes and more electoral 
votes than any other can- 
didate ; but as he did not 
receive a majority of the 
electoral vote, it became 
the duty of the House of 
Representatives to elect 
a President. That body 
elected John Quincy Ad- 
ams. During Adams's ad- 
ministration the fight be- 
tween the leaders of the 
Republican party became 
more and more bitter, the 
result being the election 
of Jackson in 1828. Dur- 
ing Jackson's first ad- 
ministration the Republican party ceased to exist, and several 
new parties were formed. The two more important of these are 
known as the Democratic party and the National-Republican 
party, the latter becoming known as the Whig party. The 
other great party to be formed during this period was the Re- 
publican party of to-day. It was not organized until 1854. 

(b) The Democratic Party. — Although its leaders and 
issues have changed, the Democratic party organized in Jack- 
son's time has never been broken up, and has been and is at the 




John Quincy Adams 



Political Methods and Political Parties 383 



present time a great and powerful party. The Democratic 
Presidents during this period were Jackson, 1829-1837 ; Van 
Buren, 1837-1841; Pierce, 1853-1S57; and Buchanan, 1857- 
18C1. The first questions on which the Democratic party took 
a stand were nuUification and the United States Bank. Jack- 
son opposed the right of nuUification in a most decisive manner, 
and succeeded in destroying the United States Bank. Later 
in this period slavery became the main issue, and the Demo- 
cratic party as a party favored slavery, but in the campaign 
of 1800 the party split on this issue. The most important work 
of the party during this period was the establishment of the 
Independent Treasury Sys- 
tem, the settlement of the 
Oregon question, the an- 
nexation of Texas, the in- 
auguration and manage- 
ment of the war with Mexi- 
co, the reduction of the 
tariff in 1816 to an almost 
free-trade basis, and the 
passage of the Kansas- 
Nebraska Act in 1854. 

(c) The Whig Party. — 
The general principles on 
which the Whig party was 
formed under the leader- 
ship of Clay and Webster 
were broad construction of 
the Constitution, internal improvements by the aid of the 
national government, a protective tariff, and opposition to the 
extension of slavery into the territory west of the Mississippi. 
The Whig party was the one great rival of the Democratic 
party from 1834 to 1853, and twice succeeded in gaining con- 
.trol of the national government. The Whig Presidents were 
Harrison and Tyler, 1841-1845 ; and Taylor and Fillmore, 1849- 
1853. Harrison and Taylor both died in ofifice, Harrison ex- 
actly one month after he became President, and Taylor after he 
had served as President a few days more than one year and 




]\hLLARD Fillmore 



384 Westward Expansion and Slavery 



four months. On Harrison's death, Vice IVesidcnt Tyler be- 
came President, and on Taylor's death Vice President Fillmore 
became President. The deaths of Harrison and Taylor were 
very unfortunate for the Whi^i^ party. Neither Tyler nor Fill- 
more were really in sympathy with the principles of that party. 
They succeeded in preventing the Whig party from putting into 
efifect any of its most important principles. While the Com- 
promise of 1850 regarding the extension of slavery into the 

western territory 
was a Whig meas- 
ure, it was passed by 
the influence of Fill- 
more, and its passage 
was against the 
wishes of a large 
number of Whigs, 
especially those of 
the North, where the 
main strength of the 
party lay. The fail- 
ure of the party to 
take a definite stand 
on the slavery ques- 
tion, which was due 
largely to the in- 
fluence of Fillmore, 
caused its downfall 
soon after the year 
1850. 

(d) TJic Rcpublica]! Party. — The increasing importance of 
the slavery question caused changes in the Democratic party, 
the breaking up of the Whig party, and the rise of several 
minor parties in the latter part of this period. The various 
antislavery elements of all these parties imitod and formed 
a new party, which took the name Republican. This party 
rapidly gained strength in the North, and in 18(50, under the 
leadership of Abraham Lincoln, first carried the national elec- 
tion. Further discussion of the Republican party will be given 




Zacharv ] AY1.0R 



Financial Legislation: The Tariff 385 

in connection with the period, Reconstruction, Development, 
and Expansion, which period extends from the end of the 
Civil War to the present time. 

FINANCIAL LEGISLATION: THE TARIFF 

204. The Tariff and Doctrine of Nullification: (a) High 
Tariff of 1828. — Just before the presidential election of 1828 
Congress enacted a tariff law which caused much trouble dur- 
ing Jackson's first administration. Because of the very high 
and. absurd duties which this tariff laid on imported goods, it is 
known as the Tariff of Abominations. The South was becom- 
ing more and more opposed to the protective principle of the 
tariff", but her leaders in Congress did not wish to oppose it at 
that time for fear that such opposition would cause Jackson's 
defeat in the coming election. In order to prevent the passage 
of a protective tariff, and at the same time make it appear to 
the people as though they favored it, some of the Jackson men 
in Congress proposed a tariff bill that levied high duties not 
only on manufactured goods, but also on raw materials that 
were not produced in the United States. The tariff on raw 
material that was not produced in the United States would 
injure instead of help those who were engaged in manufactur- 
ing. When the bill was being discussed in Congress, the 
Jackson men prevented any reduction of the proposed duties 
on raw material. They did this of course in order to cause 
those who favored levving a tariff on manufactured goods to 
cast their votes against the entire bill, but to the surprise of the 
Jackson men those members of Congress who favored a pro- 
tective tariff voted for the bill, and it became a law. 

(b) Exposition and Protest of South Carolina. — In the 
South the new tariff was strongly denounced. A number of 
the southern legislatures passed resolutions against it. The 
resolutions passed by South Carolina in December, 1828, in- 
cluded what is known as the Exposition and Protest of South 
Carolina. This Exposition and Protest stated that a state had 
the right to nullify — that is. declare null and void — a law of 
Congress, if it believed that the Constitution did not give Con- 
gress the right to pass that law. This was the same doctrine 



386 Westward Expansion and Slavery 



that had been stated in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions 
in 179(S, and by the Hartford convention in 1814. As stated 
on each of these three occasions, this doctrine was that the 
Constitution was a mere compact or contract between the dif- 
ferent states, and that a state need not obey a law passed by 
Congress unless the Constitution gave that body the right to 



iilf3) IPUJ©t:E32'j 



BY THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE 



IIOVSE OF REPRESEffTaTTP-KSj, 



THE TARIFF; 



> um OKO^Men 1 



coLtnnu, & c. 



li^^ 



Facsimh.e of the Exposition and Protest 

pass it. The Exposition and Protest of South Carolina was 
drawn up by Calhoun. When Calhoun entered Congress in 
December, 1811, he was a strong advocate of the dignity and 
the power of the national government. He voted for the War 
of 1812, and during his first years in Congress was a strong 
advocate of a protective tarifif and of internal improvement 



Financial Legislation: The Tariff 387 



by the aid of the national government. Since then, however, 
he had changed his views. 

(c) NuUification in South Carolina. — After the legislature 
of South Carolina had passed the Exposition and Protest, 
Calhoun suggested that a state convention should be held for 
the purpose of <leciding how to make the tariff of 1828 null and 
void within the limits of the state. Four years later, in 
November, 1832, South Carolina held a state convention for 
this purpose. Meanwhile the Tariff of Abominations had 
been revised, but its protective 
features had been retained. A 
great debate had also taken place 
in Congress on state rights and 
national sovereignty between 
Daniel Webster, senator from 
Massachusetts, and Robert Y. 
Hayne, senator from South 
Carolina. The feeling created 
by this debate and the retaining 
of the protective features of the 
tariff made South Carolina more 
determined than ever to carry 
stated in her 
Protest. Her 
declared the 




John C. Calhoun 



out the doctrine 

Exposition and 

state convention 

tariff act of 1828 to be null and 

void, and made it unlawful after 

February 1, 1833, for any one in South Carolina to pay the 

duties which were provided in that act. 

Jackson, as already stated, had no faith in the doctrine that 
the Constitution w^as a compact betw'een the states, and he 
therefore did not believe that a state had the right to nullify a 
law of Congress. He at once prepared to enforce the tariff 
laws in South Carolina, and threatened to hang any one who 
should resist by force the collection of tariff taxes in that state. 
As a result of Jackson's firm attitude and the failure of the 
other southern states to support South Carolina, the leaders 
of that state suspended the operations of the Nullification Act 

28 



388 Westward Expansion and Slaven' 

which had been passed by their state convention. In March 
the tariff was still further revised. This compromise tariff 
seemed to satisfy the people of South Carolina. Xever since 
that time has a state tried to nullify a national law. The 
secession of the soutliem states from the Union in 1S60-1S61 
was not based on the doctrine of nullitication. 

(d) Other Tariif Cl-.atigcs. — The strong opposition of the 
South to the Tariff of Abominations led to its modification in 
1S3'3, and in the following year to the passage of a compro- 
mise tariff law which provided for tlie gjadual reduction of 
tariff duties during a period of ten years until the low rates — 
an even twenty per cent on the value of the goods — imposed 
by the tariff of 1S16 should be reached. This limit pro\-ided 
by the compromise tariff was reached in 1S43. At that time 
the WTiig^ had control of the government, and they increased 
the tariff duties slightly. But in lS4ii. when the Democrats 
again came into power, they made the tariff lower than it had 
been for thirty years, and during the next year reduced it still 
more. Xo funher changes were made in the tariff until just 
before the beginning of the QixW War. 

205. Destruction of the United States Bank. — The tirst 
charter of the I'uited States Bank expired in ISII. The 
second charter, which was granted by Congress in ISli^ would 
expire in lS3i>. Jackson had become strongly opposed to this 
hank. He claimed that it was an "un-American monopoly." 
and that the grovemment had helped it to become such by plac- 
ing in it the public fimds. thereby giving it a great ad\-antage 
over all other banks. He also claimed that the bank was in- 
terfering in politics. All these charges which Jackson made 
against the bank were very likely true, but it had always been 
of great assistance and convenience to the government, and 
had tended to keep the money affairs of the entire countr}- on 
a sound basis. Although the charter of the bank did not ex- 
pire until 18ot». the enemies of Jackson who had control of 
Congress passed a bill in the early part of the campaign of 
I80? for renewing the charter. They did this in order to force 
Jackson either to approve or veto the bill in the hope that his 
action mig^t prevent his re-election. He vetoed the bill, and 



Financial Legislation: The Tariff 



389 



the question of granting a now charter to the bank became the 
main issue of the campaign. 

Jackson was re-elected by a large majority, receiving more 
than three times as many electoral votes as all the other can- 
didates togetlK^r. Jackson believed this large majority meant 
that the people were opposed to the bank. And after the 
trouble with South Carolina over the tariff had been settled 
he began an active attack on the bank for the purpose of 
destroying it before its charter expired. He ordered the 
Secretary of the Treasury to deposit no more public money in 
the United States Bank or in any of its branch banks, and to 
use the public money already in them for the expenses of the 



■ 


■^^B 










1 


i^^^^d 






Medal of Tacksox destrovixc. the Ban-k 



government. Within a short time all the public money in the 
United States Bank had been used to pay the regular expenses 
of the government. Jackson had the surplus public funds 
placed in different state banks, and usually in those banks that 
were favorable to him. Thus several years before its charter 
expired Jackson practically destroyed the United States Bank 
by causing all the national funds to be withdrawn from it. But 
his opposition did not stop here. for. through the influence 
of the President, Congress refused in 1836 to renew the bank's 
charter. 

206. The Panic of 1837: (a) State Btviks.—The dis- 
tribution of the government money among the state banks 
caused a large number of these banks to be orsfanized in order 



390 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

to secure some of this money. It was valuable to these banks 
to obtahi this money because they had the right to loan it and 
to keep all the interest they could secure in this way. These 
state banks also had the right to make and issue paper money, 
but they were supposed to keep enough gold and silver on hand 
to redeem it. That is, when a man brought to a bank one 
hundred dollars of its paper money, the bank was supposed to 
give him for it one hundred dollars in gold or silver, if he so 
desired. As soon as the state banks received the government 
money they began to loan it to people in order to secure interest 
on it. Most of the money deposited in the banks by the 
government was hard money— that is, gold and silver coin. 
The amount of paper money which the state banks all over 
the country were soon making was much greater than the 
total amount of hard money which they had loaned and had 
on hand. All this gave the country a large amount of money, 
and many people in all parts of the country began to borrow 
from the banks. 

(b) Speculation. — Many people who borrowed money did 
not use it to carry on good, safe business, as farming and 
manufacturing, but used it for speculation — that is. they bought 
such property as land, farm products, slaves and railroad bonds, 
not for the purpose of actually keeping them, but for the 
purpose of selling them in a short time for more than they 
had paid for them. The ability of the people to borrow money 
easily, together with the cheap price of government land in 
the West, the building of new railroads, and the splendid con- 
dition of business generally, caused this kind of unsafe specu- 
lation to spread over the entire country and to become worse 
and worse. It soon became quite plain that the banks could 
not redeem all the paper money which they had issued. 
People who held this paper money soon found that they could 
not exchange all of it, or nearly all of it, for gold or silver. 
This caused them to look on paper money with suspicion, and 
as a result a dollar of it soon became of less value than a 
dollar of gold or silver. 

(c) The Specie Circular. — The government had been 
accepting paper money in payment for public lands. Jackson 



Financial Legislation: The Tariff 391 

saw that this must be stopped, or it would result in loss to 
the government. He therefore issued an order that the pay- 
ment for public lands must be made in gold and silver. This 
order of Jackson's is known as the Specie Circular, because it 
provided that all payments made to the government by its 
citizens must be made in specie — that is, in gold or silver. The 
Specie Circular issued by President Jackson caused people 
generally to become still more suspicious of the paper money 
proceeding from the state banks, and caused this money to 
become of still less value. 

• (d) Surplus in National Treasury Given to the States. — 
A few months after the Specie Circular had been issued another 
thing happened, which tended to lower still more the value 
of paper money. The national debt had all been paid by 1835, 
and as the income from the tariff and the sale of public lands 
was greater than the expenses of the government, a surplus 
began to accumulate. By the latter part of 1836 this surplus 
had reached about forty million dollars, nearly all of which 
had been deposited in the state banks. As the national debt 
had all been paid, and as the government did not need this 
money for regular expenses, Congress decided to give it to 
the states. The Constitution did not permit Congress to do 
this, so it was given to the states in the form of a loan, but it 
was understood that this money was never to be paid back to 
the national government. In order that each state mig'ht 
receive its share of the surplus, many of the state banks were 
compelled to give up all the government money which had 
been deposited with them. 

(e) Financial Panic. — The removal of government deposits 
from the state banks greatly reduced their supply of hard 
money, and greatly injured the business of the entire country. 
This, together with the Specie Circular, caused the value of 
paper money to become less and less. Men at once began to 
take their paper money to the banks and ask for gold or silver 
in return. But the banks had not the gold and silver with 
which to redeem it ; for, as has been stated, many of them 
had issued a far larger quantity of paper money than they 
could redeem even with the government funds which they 



392 Westward Expansion and Slavery 



had on deposit, and the sudden removal of these funds made 
their condition still worse. As a result, many of the state 
banks were compelled to close their doors. The value of paper 
money declined rapidly ; specie payments were everywhere 
suspended ; hundreds of business firms failed ; thousands of 
men and women lost everything they possessed ; factories were 
forced to suspend operations ; and thus financial panic swept 
over the country. 
207. The Independent or Subtreasury System. — Van 

lUiren became Presi- 
dent in March, 1837, 
just before the finan- 
cial panic came. This 
panic made it plain 
that the placing of the 
surplus money of the 
government in state 
banks was a very bad 
plan. After giving the 
matter careful consid- 
eration, \"an Buren 
decided that the gov- 
ernment should own 
buildings in which to 
place its funds. In 1S40 
Congress, acting upon 
the recommendation of 
the President, passed what is known as the Independent 
Treasury Act. By the terms of this act the United States was 
enabled to erect in various states such government buildings as 
should be required in which to deposit the public money of the 
nation. This system, commonly known as the Subtreasury 
System, still exists, and has proven very satisfactory. It com- 
pletely separated the financial afifairs of the government from 
the private and state banks. 




Martix V.\n Buren 



Growth in Territory and Population 393 



GROWTH OF THE NATION IN TERRITORY AND 
POPULATION 

208. The Oregon Territory; (a) Need of an Outlet to 
the Pacific Coast. — At the close of the Revolution the territory 
of the United States extended from Canada to Florida, and 
from the Mississippi to the Atlantic. By the purchase of 
Louisiana, in 180;>, an outlet to the Gulf of Mexico and a vast 
and rich territory west of the Mississippi were secured. By 
the purchase of Florida, in 1819, the United States extended 
to the Gulf of Mexico that part of her southern boundary which 
had before reached only to the northern line of East Florida. 
The great thing- which remained for the nation to do was to 
expand westward and secure an outlet to the Pacific. Jefiferson 
had for a long time fondly hoped to see this done. Even before 
he became President he had endeavored to induce several men 
to explore the Oregon country. His great desire to secure this 
western country, and an outlet on the Pacific, was one of the 
main reasons why he was so anxious to secure Louisiana when 
he heard that Spain had ceded that territory to France in 1800. 
When Jefferson learned that France had secured Louisiana, he 
at once induced Congress to set aside some of the public money 
for the purpose of sending an expedition overland into the 
Oregon country. Before this expedition could be gotten ready 
Louisiana had been purchased ; but this territory did not extend 
to the Pacific, and its purchase did not directly affect the Oregon 
country. 

(b) Lezvis and Clark Expedition; Claims of United States 
and England. — In the spring of 1804 the expedition for which 
Congress had voted money left the small frontier town of St. 
Louis. The party, which was in charge of Lewis and Clark, 
went up the Missouri and spent the winter of 1804 with the 
Indians. In the spring they crossed over the mountains, 
descended the Columbia, and in November reached the Pacific. 
Thirteen years before this time. Captain Gray of Boston dis- 
covered the Columbia while trading with the Indians along the 
coast, near the mouth of that great river. The discovery of 
the Columbia by Gray, the explorations of Lewis and Clark, 



394 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

and the coming in of American settlers, which soon took place, 
all helped to give the United States the right to claim the 
Oregon Territory. During this time England had also been 
making some explorations and discoveries in the same locality, 
and because of her activity she, too, claimed the region. 

(c) Joint Occupation of Oregon; Treaty of 1840. — By the 
Treaty of 1818 England and the United States agreed that both 
Englishmen and Americans might settle in the Oregon 
country. This territory extended from California north to the 




Lewis and Clark in Council with the Ixdians 
From an old print 

parallel 54:° 40'. Russia claimed the territory north of this 
parallel, and Spain claimed California. This arrangement be- 
tween England and the United States is known as the Joint 
Occupation of Oregon. Either nation could bring the agree- 
ment to an end one year after notifying the other that it desired 
to do so." Although the joint occupation of this territory came 
very nearly causing serious trouble between the two nations, 
it was continued in efifect until ISlfi when a treaty was signed 
which established the present northwest boundary of the United 
States. By this treaty Canada secured an outlet to the Pacific, 
and so did the United States. Thus in sixtv-three vears the 



Growth in Territory and Population 395 

young nation had extended its territory southward to the Gulf 
of Mexico and westward from the Mississippi to the Pacific. 
The part of the Pacific coast secured was not very long-, but 
there was connected with the conditions that brought about the 
treaty which settled the Oregon question an event which was 
soon to extend the territory of the United States down the 
Pacific coast for nearly a thousand miles south of Oregon. 
This event was the annexation of Texas, which took place in 
1845. 

209. Annexation of Texas; (a) Balance of Pozvcr in 
Congress. — The rapid growth of the North in population had 
given the free states a majority in the House of Representatives. 
As population in the North was growing more rapidly than in 
the South, this majority would become larger and larger. 
Neither could the South hope to have for a much longer time 
as many votes in the Senate as the North. By the Missouri 
Compromise of 1820 the parallel of 36° 30' divided the 
Louisiana Territory as regards slavery. The territory north 
of this line, out of which free states would be formed, was 
much larger and was being settled much faster than the territory 
south of it, out of which slave states would be formed. The 
leaders of the South saw plainly that it would not be long 
before the free states would have a majority in the Senate, 
as well as in the House of Representatives. This to them 
became a very serious question, because there was gradually 
growing up in the North a moral sentiment against slavery ; 
and the southern leaders naturally thought that Congress, being 
controlled by the North, would at some future time pass laws 
against slavery in the South. They were very anxious 
therefore to secure more territory out of which new slave 
states could be formed,, in order that the South might have 
as many votes in the Senate as the North, and thus be able to 
prevent any legislation that might injure slavery. 

(b) The Settlement of Texas by Americans. — The soil and 
climate of Texas made that territory well suited to slavery, 
and the southern people were determined to secure it if pos- 
sible. It should be carefully noted, however, that it was just 
as natural for the Americans to advance into the territory of 



396 Westward Expansion and Slavery- 



Texas as it was for them to advance into the territory of 
Oregon. Texas would no doubt have been secured by the 
United States if slavery had not existed in the South, but the 
desire of the southern leaders to secure it for the expansion 
of slavery hastened, very likely, its settlement. Another thing 
which caused the southern people to move into this territory 
was the liberal offers of land that were made to the Americans. 
The territory south of Louisiana and Oregon belonged to the 
Republic of Mexico, which, as already stated, was one of the 
many Spanish colonies in North and South America that 

became independent of 
Spain between 1810 and 
1823. As soon as Mexi- 
co became an independ- 
ent nation, she offered 
liberal grants of land in 
Texas to those Ameri- 
cans who would bring a 
certain number of fam- 
ilies into that country. 
People from the southern 
states at once began to 
move into Texas, and it 
began to be settled by 
the Americans as the 
western territory east of 
the Mississippi was being 

settled bv them. 
John Tyler / \ V j ^ j h 

(c) Indcpcndoicc of 

Texas; its Annexation to the United States. — It was not long 

before the Americans in Texas began to have trouble with 

the government of Mexico. This trouble soon led to war 

between Texas and Mexico. The war lasted from 1833 to 

1836, and resulted in the independence of Texas. Texas soon 

applied to the Ignited States for admission as a state. This 

brought up the question of slavery. As most of the Americans 

who had settled in Texas were from the South, slavery existed 

there. For this reason the South was verv anxious that Texas 




Growth in Territory and Population 397 

should be annexed, and for this same reason the North was 
anxious that she should not be annexed. If the question of 
slavery had not existed, Texas would very likely have been 
admitted without much delay and with but little opposition 
from any part of the United States. As the North strongly 
opposed the annexation of Texas because slavery existed there, 
President Van Buren would not make a treaty of annexation- 
Tyler, who became President when Harrison died, made such 
a treaty secretly and submitted it to the Senate for ratification. 
This action of Tyler's was strongly opposed by the Whig 
party which had elected him. The Senate rejected the treaty, 
and the annexation of Texas became the main issue in the 
presidential campaign of 18-1:4, The platform of the Demo- 
cratic party favored annexation. It also declared that the 
United States should take possession of all the Oregon country 
and settle that question. The statement regarding Oregon 
pleased many people in the North because they were anxious 
to secure that country, for if secured, it could be settled and 
would sometime be divided into free states. The Democratic 
party carried the election, and at once proceeded to carry out 
the promises which it had made regarding Texas and Oregon. 
Texas was annexed in 1845, and the Oregon question, as has 
already been seen, was settled in 1846. 

210. The Mexican War: (a) Cmiscs. — The annexation 
of Texas soon brought on war between the United States and 
Mexico. Texas claimed that her boundary extended to the 
Rio Grande, while Mexico claimed it did not extend further 
south than the Nueces River. Without really trying to settle 
the question peacefully. President Polk ordered General Taylor 
to occupy the disputed territory. Mexican soldiers opposed 
Taylor's advance, and a small battle was fought. In a message 
to Congress, Polk declared that war existed. Congress 
accepted his view of the matter, and preparations were begun 
for the invasion of Mexico. This war on the part of the 
United States was unjust. Mexico was practically forced to 
fight. Texas as a part of the Republic of Mexico had extended 
only to the Nueces, and Mexico would naturally consider 
Taylor's advance across that river an invasion of her territory. 



39^ Westward Expansion and Slavery 



The United States should at least have tried to find out exactly 
how far south Texas extended before sending soldiers into 
territory that was claimed by Mexico. Many in the North 
opposed the war. They maintained that it was begun for 
the purpose of securing more slave territory. General Grant, 
who, as a subordinate officer, fought in this war, declared 
when writing about it that it was one of the most unjust wars 
that a strong nation ever waged against a weak one. 

(b) Campaigns; Treaty of Peace; Gadsden Purchase. — 

The war itself was 
a series of victories 
for the Americans. 
In a campaign that 
lasted from Au- 
gust. 1846, to Feb- 
ruary, 1847, Gen- 
eral Taylor in a 
series of battles 
south of the Rio 
Grande completely 
defeated the Mexi- 
can army. In a 
campaign which 
lasted from March 
to September, 1847, 
General Scott 
marched from Vera 
Cruz and captured 
the city of Mexico. 
While these two 
campaigns were going on, the Americans seized New Mexico 
and California. The treaty of peace, which brought the war 
to an end, was signed near the city of Mexico in February. 
1848. This treaty made the Rio Grande the southern boundary 
of Texas, and the territory which it gave to the United States 
includes California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and 
a part of Colorado. The United States paid Mexico fifteen 
million dollars, and paid about three million dollars' worth 




James K. Polk 



Growth in Territory and Population 399 

of debts that Mexico owed American citizens. Before the 
boundary was finally settled the United States paid Mexico ten 
million dollars more and secured a little more territory than 
was granted by -the terms of the treaty. This is known as 
the Gadsden Purchase, and was made in 1853. 

211. Growth in Territory and Population; (a) General 
Outline. — In a little less than three years and two months from 
January 1, 1845, the United States had increased about one 
third in size. At the close of the Revolution the area of the 




Scott's Entrance into the City of Mexico 



nation was a little more than eight hundred thousand square 
miles ; by the purchase of Louisiana and Florida the area had 
increased during the period of National Growth and European 
interference to more than two million square miles ; and by 
the annexation of Texas, the occupation of the Oregon 
Territory, and the war with IMexico, the United States increased 
its area to more than three million square miles. The territory 
of the nation now extended all the way across North America, 
and had an average width of more than a thousand miles. 



400 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

The outlets on the Gulf of Mexico and on the Atlantic and 
Pacific oceans were niai^nificent. 

The growth of the nation in population during the period 
of Westward Expansion and Slavery was even greater than 
its growth in territory. In 18'28 there were about twelve 
million people living in the I'nited States. By 1800 this 
number had increased to more than thirty-one millions. During 
this period about five million people came from Europe. 
Nearly all of these settled in the northern states. The rapid 
growth of the \\'est had continued. The new states formed 
in the great rich central plain were Arkansas, ISol!; Michigan, 
1837; Texas, 1845; Iowa. 184(5; Wisconsin, 1848; and Minne- 
sota, 1858. Florida became a state in 1845. 

(b) Settlement of Oregon. — The unusual thing about the 
growth of population during this period as compared with 
previous periods was the settlement of Oregon and California. 
Before this period those who settled in the West moved into 
the territory next to that already occupied. In settling 
California and Oregon they passed over more than a thousand 
miles of country that had not yet been occupied by white 
people. After the Lewis and Clark expedition American 
traders began to go into the Oregon Territory, but only a very 
few people had gone there to live before 1843. About this 
time many began to cross the plains and mountains in wagons. 
After the Oregon question was adjusted in 184t), and the 
people knew exactly how much of that territory belonged to 
the United States, the number going there to live increased 
rapidly. In 1859 the southwest part of the Oregon Territory 
became the state of Oregon, and the remainder of this territory 
was organized and called the territory of Washington. 

(c) Settlement of California. — While the Oregon Territory 
was being settled, California was being settled still faster. 
Before the war with Mexico there were not, however, many 
Americans in this country. By 1845 Fremont had made two 
trips overland, and at that time there were perhaps several 
hundred Americans in California. Before the few Americans 
in the Sacramento \'alley knew that war existed between the 
United States and Mexico, thev heard that the Mexican 



Growth in Territory and Population 401 



commander was coming nj) from southern California to attack 
them. When the Americans lieard that they were going to 
be attacked, some of them marched on the Mexican fort at 
Sonoma and captured it. ^J'hey then declared the country 
independent of Mexico and named the new nation the Cali- 
fornia Republic, although it is usually known as the I'ear Flag 
Republic. Soon the news of the war with Mexico arrived, and 
the United States army and navy took possession of California. 
In January, 1818, a few days before the signing of the 
treaty of peace ending the Mexican War, gold was discovered 




\ r 'h-^ v ■■■■ 

lit;,-;.- 



An Emigrant Train 

UurliiKJi lialt the wuKons wei'e frequently arraiiKetl ii.s here Hliown, for Kreater 

security against attack 

a short distance from Sacramento, which was then called 
Sutter's Fort. This discovery of gold created great excite- 
, ment. During the next two years a hundred thousand people 
went to California, and on September 9, 1850, she became a 
state. The admission of California is closely connected with 
the slavery question, and will be discussed more fully under 
the next topic. It is interesting to note that until Oregon was 
admitted to the Union in ISoO, California stood alone on the 
Pacific coast, more than a thousand miles from all her sister 
states except Texas, and almost a thousand miles from the 
settled part of that state. 



402 Westward Expansion and Slavery 



THE SLAVERY QUESTION 

212. Conditions Affecting the Growth of Slavery. — Durinc;- 
this period the question of slavery was very closely connected 
with the growth of the nation in territory and population. 
When the Missouri Compromise was passed, most people 
thought that the slavery question had been settled ; but it soon 
beeame plain that this compromise secured peace on this 
question only for a few years. After 1830 the issue of slavery 
became more and more serious with each succeeding year, 
and it finally brought the period of Westward Expansion and 
Slavery to an end by plunging the nation into civil war. The 
fact that slaves could not be used with great profit in the North 
had caused the gradual abolition of slavery in the northern 
states. When Washington was first elected President, all the 
northern states except New York, New Jersey, and Delaware 
had either abolished slavery or had made provision for 
gradually freeing the slaves. In 1709 New York took similar 
action, and in 1801 New Jersey made provision for gradually 
freeing all her slaves. 

Both Washington and Jefferson had hoped to see slavery 
abolished in all sections of the country, and under their advice 
the legislature of Virginia came very near abolishing it in that 
state, the bill so providing being defeated by only a small 
majority. Had not improved weaving machinery and the 
cotton gin been invented, it is quite likely that the southern 
states would have gradually abolished slavery. After the 
Revolution the South began to raise a larger variety of farm 
products, and was just getting ready to develop other industries 
in which slave labor could not have been used to great ad- 
vantage. All this tended to increase in the South the growing 
sentiment in favor of abolition. Hut the invention between 
17f)5 and 1786 of improved weaving machinery created an 
immense demand for cotton, and the invention of the cotton 
gin in 1793 made it possible to supply this demand. This made 
slave labor more valuable in the southern states, and fastened 
slavery more firmly on the South than the extensive produc- 
tions of tobacco, rice, and indigo had done before the Revo- 



The Slavery Question 403 

lution. After 1800 the southern states devoted more and 
more of their time and energy to the production of cotton, 
and as a natural result slavery became more and more firmly 
rooted in the industrial and social life of the South. The 
southern people began to consider slavery a natural and normal 
condition. The fact that the slaves were black, uneducated, 
and in many cases almost savage, had a great deal to do in 
causing the southern people to look on slavery in that light. 
In the North, where the people were not accustomed to slaves 
and to slavery, there began to grow up gradually the idea 
that slavery was wrong. ^ The gradual growth of this idea in 
the North marks the beginnmg of the final struggle over 
slavery. 

213. Rise of the Abolitionists: (a) Origin and Doctrine. 
— For about eleven years after the Missouri Compromise in 
1830 the slavery question was very quiet. But in 1831 the 
few people in the North who had come to believe that slavery 
was wrong began to attack it and to demand that it be abolished 
in all the states. Because they wished to have slavery 
abolished, they were called Abolitionists. The number of 
Abolitionists in the North was not very large, even at the 
beginning of the Civil War ; but this small number became 
very active. In 1831 William Lloyd Garrison established a 
paper in Boston. He called his paper The Liberator, and 
printed it for the purpose of attacking slavery. Abolition 
societies were formed throughout the North. The Abolitionists 
advocated the immediate freeing of all the slaves, and circu- 
lated pamphlets, papers, and magazines throughout the United 
States setting forth their doctrines. They did not have very 
much success, however, in inducing the people to think as they 
did on this question. 

(b) Opposition to Aholitionists in North and South. — 
The slaveholders in the South were enraged by their activity, 
and did not seem to realize that their number in the North 
was very small. As the Abolitionists claimed that slavery was 
wrong, the southern people were virtually forced to maintain 
that it was right and just. They claimed that slavery was a 
positive good to the negro, because instead of remaining a 



404 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

savage as did his brother in Africa, the slave in the South 
became a Christian, and became civiHzed. Many of the 
southern ministers claimed that the Bible sanctioned slavery, 
and that the people of the North should not oppose it. In 
1831 a slave insurrection, which resulted in the death of about 
sixty whites and one hundred negroes, broke out in Virginia. 
The southern people claimed that this was due to the doctrine 
of the Abolitionists. Many people began to demand that the 
Abolitionists should not be permitted to send their papers and 
pamphlets through the mail.. A bill was even introduced 
in Congress, with the full approval of President Jackson, to 
prohibit the sending of such "incendiary literature" through 
the mails. Although this bill did not pass, it showed the 
strength of the feeling that prompted it. Some of the anti- 
slavery literature w'as actually removed from the mails and then 
destroyed. 

In the North the feeling against the Abolitionists was almost 
as strong as in the South. The great mass of the northern 
people denounced them severely. Their meetings were broken 
up ; their printing presses were destroyed ; and their leaders 
threatened with death, Lovejoy, an Abolition editor, being 
actually killed in Illinois in 1837 while trying to prevent his 
printing press from being destroyed by a mob. In New 
England the opposition to the Abolitionists was very strong. 
Garrison was led through the streets with a rope around his 
body, and schoolhouses which were used for the purpose of 
educating negroes were torn down and totally destroyed. All 
this indicates plainly that at that time the great mass of the 
northern people cared very little for the negro, and that the 
moral sentiment against slavery in the North was very weak. 

(c) The Gag Resolutions; Cause and Results. — One phase 
of opposition to the Abolitionists was soon to change the 
attitude of many of the northern people toward slavery. The 
Abolitionists sent many petitions to Congress against slavery. 
At first these petitions w^ere printed, referred to the proper 
committee, and then -nothing more w^as done with them. The 
members of Congress from the South, however, soon became 
so strongly opposed to them, and so angry at the Abolitionists 



The Slavery Question 405 

for constantly attacking slavery and agitating the question, that 
in 1836 they secured in both the House and Senate the passage 
of resolutions that prevented the printing of any petitions that 
referred in any way to slavery, or the referring of any such 
petition to a committee. These resolutions were called Gag 
Resolutions. Ex-President John Quincy Adams, who was 
then an old man, was a member of the House of Representa- 
tives. He made a noble fight against this attack on the right 
of petition. The angry debates on this question in Congress 
directed the attention of the entire nation to the matter. 

The passage of the gag resolutions was practically a refusal 
on the part of Congress to receive petitions from the people, 
and was therefore a direct violation of the Constitution of the 
United States. It was a violation of a right held especially 
dear by English-speaking people, because it was one of those 
rights which had cost them centuries of bloodshed and struggle 
to secure. The great mass of the northern people had little 
love for the Abolitionists, but they were thoroughly aroused 
at this interference with the right of petition, and it caused 
them to give more attention to the slavery question and to 
what the Abolitionists had to say. The action of Congress 
on these slavery petitions, therefore, tended to create a strong 
feeling in the North against the attitude of the South on the 
sla«\'ery question, and the sending in of these petitions by the 
few Abolitionists united the South in strong opposition to the 
North. 

214. The Compromise of 1850: (a) The JVilmot 
Proviso. — The attempt of the Abolitionists, and of others in 
the North, to convince the people of the United States that 
slavery was morally wrong, caused the southern people to 
think that by and by a majority of the northern people would 
come to believe that slavery should not exist. This caused 
the people of the South to believe that if the free states should 
get control of the Senate as well as of the House of Represen- 
tatives, Congress would by and by pass laws for the purpose 
of interfering with slavery in the South. The southern 
leaders were therefore very anxious to secure more slave terri- 
tory in order that a slave state might be admitted to the Union 



4o6 Westward Expansion and Slavery 



with every free state, ami thus prevent the Xorth from i^cttin.c: 
control of the Senate. I'p to ISoO there had always heen 
just as many slave states as free states. When California, in 
1849, applied for admission as a free state, the southern 
leaders were determined that it should not he admitted, hecause 
its admission would give the free states control of the Senate, 

and because they 
wished slave states 
to be formed out of 
the territory secured 
from Mexico. They 
k n e w that unless 
slave states were 
formed out of most 
of this territory, it 
would be only a 
question of time 
when the number of 
free states would far 
outnumber the slave 
states. The question 
as to whether slav- 
ery should or should 
not exist in the ter- 
ritory secured from 
Mexico was first 
discussed when the bill to provide money to pay IMexico for 
this territory was before Congress. Representative Wilmot 
wished to amend this bill so as to provide that slavery could 
not exist in anv of the territory bought with this money. His 
amendment, which is known as the \\'ilmot Proviso, was 
defeated, but its discussion attracted general attention to the 
question of extending slavery into the territory secured from 
IMexico. 

(b) Feeling in North and South over Extension of Sherry 
into Western Territory. — By this time many people in the 
North were determined that slavery should not be extended 
into anv more of the western territory except into that part 



1 



( 




Hexry Clay 



The Slavery Question 407 

of the Louisiana Territory soutli of the parallel 'M\° 30', as 
provided in the Missouri Compromise. Under these circum- 
stances, the. discussion over the question of admittinj^: Cali- 
fornia caused feeling in the North and in the South to become 
so bitter that threats of disunion were made in both sections, 
as well as in Congress. In addition to demanding that slavery 
should be permitted to extend into any part of the western 
territory, the South demanded the passage of a fugitive slave 
law that would practically compel the people of -the North to 
help capture the slaves who might escape into the free states 
from the slave states. The North, in addition to demanding 
that slavery should not be permitted to extend into any more 
of the western territory, demanded that slavery should be 
abolished in the District of Columbia. 

(c) Terms of the Compromise. — As the debates in Con- 
gress over these questions became more and more bitter, both 
Webster and Clay became alarmed for the safety of the nation. 
They introduced, urged, and secured the adoption of com- 
promise measures on the ground that the Union was in danger 
of breaking up. These measures are known as the Compromise 
of 1850, and, in substance, are as follows : 

1. California was admitted as a free state, while Utah and 

New Mexico were organized as territories without any 
provision as to slavery. This practically nullified and 
repealed the Missouri Compromise ; for while that 
measure w^as passed for the purpose of settling the 
slavery question in the Louisiana Territory, it was but 
natural that the parallel of 3ft° 30' should be considered 
as extending westward with the acquisition of new 
territory, as the boundary line between free and slave 
territory. 

2. The slave trade was prohibited in the District of Columbia. 

The fact that slavery was not abolished in this District 
after the question of doing so had been discussed tended 
to establish it there more firmly than ever. 

3. A strict Fugitive Slave Law was enacted. This law 

enabled a man from the South to come into a free state 



4o8 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

and claim that any negro livinc^ there was his slave. 
A negro thus accused of being a runaway slave was 
not permitted a trial by jury. If a man swore that a 
certain negro was his slave, that settled the matter. 
Officers in the free states were supposed to help capture 
and return runaway slaves. 

215. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill: (a) Effect of Pu^j^itire 
Slave Low. — As in the case of the Missouri Compromise thirty 
years before, many thought that the Compromise of l<Sr)0 would 
settle the slavery question. But it was a temporary measure 
only, and secured scarcely a lull in a question that was becom- 
ing more and more serious. "I'ncle Tom's Cabin" appeared 
about this time, and although this book was an unjust state- 
ment regarding the actual and normal condition of slavery, 
it had a strong influence in creating a feeling in the North 
against the entire slavery system. The Fugitive Slave Law 
also really made matters worse. The South seems to have 
made a special effort to enforce this law, and thus to have 
unnecessarily irritated the people of the North by keeping be- 
fore them constantly the worst phase of slavery. The de- 
termined attempt of the South to enforce this law caused the 
North to become bitterly opposed to it, and to try to prevent it 
from being enforced. The Abolitionists and others established 
a regular system, called the Underground Railroad, for the 
purpose of assisting the runaway slaves to escape into Canada, 
where the laws protected them from capture. 

(b) Terms and Results of the Bill. — While this bitter 
feeling was at its height, Senator Douglas from Illinois intro- 
duced into Congress, in 1854, a bill which is known as the 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill. This bill as finally passed expressly 
repealed the Missouri Compromise, organized the territories 
of Kansas and Nebraska, and provided that the question of 
slavery in these territories should be decided by a vote of the 
settlers when they applied for admission to the Union. This 
principle, as used in connection with the slavery question, is 
known as Popular or Squatter Sovereignty. This meant that 
the question of slavery in a state or territory was to be decided 



The Slavery Question 



409 



by a vote of the people in that state or territory. The debates 
on the Kansas-Nebraska bill aroused a strong feeling in the 
North, and its passage brought the slavery question to the 
front more prominently than ever before in our history, becaiJse 
it opened up all the western territory to slavery. 

The first result was civil strife in Kansas. The South was 
determined that Kansas 
should become a slave 
state, while the North 
was determined that it 
should become a free 
state. Both sections, 
therefore, rushed settlers 
into the territory in or- 
der to have a majority of 
the votes when it came 
to voting on the ques- 
tion. Most of the set- 
tlers from the North in- 
tended to remain in Kan- 
sas and make it their 
home; many of those 
from the South came in 
for the special purpose 
of carrying the election 
for slavery, and intended after that was accomplished to return 
to their old homes. The bitter struggle which followed be- 
tween the opposing factions resulted in the death of many 
people. The murder and lawlessness continued in Kansas 
until the territory was admitted as a free state in leSGl. This 
state of afifairs kept the entire nation aroused on the slavery 
question. 

216. The Dred Scott Decision. — When the feeling over this 
struggle in Kansas was the strongest, the Supreme Court of 
the United States made a decision that still further aroused 
the North. This decision was made in 1857 and is known as 
the Dred Scott Decision. .Dred Scott was a slave who was 
taken by his master into the free state of Illinois, and then 




Feaxklin Pierce 



41 o Westward Expansion and Slavery 

into territory which by the Missouri Compromise was to be 
forever free. On his return to Missouri he sued for his 
freedom on the ij^round tliat slavery could not exist on free 
soil, and that therefore his residence in the free North had 
made him free. In decidiui^ the case the Supreme Court 
of the United States held that a slave was not a citizen, but 
l)roperty, and therefore had no ri.t^hts in the courts as a person. 
This meant that neither the Congress of the United States 
nor the legislature of a state or territory could interfere with 
slavery. It meant that slavery could legally exist in all the 




The SiiiKLMK CoUKT Chamber 



northern states and in all the western territory. The Kansas- 
Nebraska r>ill and the Dred Scott Decision seemed at the 
time to be great victories for the South, because they threw 
open all the western territory to slavery. It was soon to be 
seen, however, that so far as the South was concerned, they 
were not victories, but defeats. This decision, the hill, and 
the bloody struggle in Kansas which the latter caused, had 
so aroused the people of the North that they were about ready 
to decide that slaverv should not be extended iiUo any more 



The Slavery Question 4 1 i 

of the western territory. The decision when once made was 
to prove final. 

217. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates. — In 1858, one year 
after the rendering of the famous Dred Scott Decision, Sen- 
ator I)ous:las, the author of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, was 
a candidate for re-election from Illinois. Abraham Lincoln 
was the candidate of the young Republican party for the same 
position. The result of the campaign between the Democrats 
and Republicans for control of the state legislature [jromised 
to be close. If the Democrats secured a majority in the state 
legislature, Douglas would be elected United States senator ; 
but if the Republicans secured a majority, Lincoln would be 
elected. Under these circumstances both Douglas and ivincoln 
naturally took an active part in the state campaign. They 
finally arranged to hold joint debates in different parts of the 
state. These debates are known as the Lincoln-Douglas 
Debates. They were very important because the speakers dealt 
with the slavery question and created a profound impression 
throughout the nation. Both men discussed the question in 
a most able manner. Lincoln was frank in expressing his 
strong opposition to the further spread of slavery into any 
part of the western territory, and he held that the Dred vScott 
Decision was contrary to the Constitulif)n of the United States, 
lie intimated that this decision had been made for the purpose 
of assisting slavery. He was opposed to the principle of 
I'opular or Squatter Sovereignty, and held that Congress 
should absolutely forbid the further extension of slavery. He 
also expressed the belief that the slavery question would not 
be finally settled until the nation had become either all free 
or all slave. In these debates, Douglas was forced to defend 
the principle of Popular Sovereignty, and in doing so he was 
forced, in substance, to oppose the Dred Scott Decision, because 
that decision denied the right of the people in 4 state or 
territory to decide the question of slavery by a vote. The 
result of the campaign gave the Democrats a majority in the 
state legislature, and Douglas was re-elected United States 
senator ; but his defense during the campaign of the doctrine 
of Popular or Squatter Sovereignty, which doctrine was con- 



412 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

trary to the principle of the Dred Scott Decision, caused the 
Democrats of the South to refuse to support him when he 
was nominated for President in ISGO. Lincohi's frank and 
able speeches durini^ the canipaig;n attracted the attention of 
the entire nation, and did much to cause the people of the 
North gradually to accept the views which he held on the 
slavery question. 

218. The Election of Lincoln. — In ISGO the Republicans 
nominated Lincoln for President. The Republican platform 
denied specifically any intention to interfere with slavery ni 
the South, but demanded that Congress prohibit it in all the 
western territory. Thus the Republicans expressed their dis- 
belief in the Dred Scott Decision, because that decision denied 
to Congress the right to interfere with the spread of slavery. 
The regular Democratic convention nominated Douglas, but 
the southern Democrats withdrew from the convention and 
nominated Breckenridge because the northern Democrats 
would not declare that slavery was morally right, and that 
Congress should protect it in the territories. Another con- 
vention composed of men from the different parties met and 
nominated Bell. 

The campaign resulted in the election of Lincoln. Lincoln's 
position on the slavery question had been made plain in the 
Lincoln-Douglas Debates, in which he declared that he was 
emphatically opposed to the further extension of slavery, and 
that in his opinion the nation must in time become all free or 
all slave. The majority of the people in the North agreed with 
him. While the Republican party and Lincoln specifically 
stated that they did not intend or desire to interfere with 
slavery in those states where it already existed, the South 
believed that the election of Lincoln meant that slavery would 
not be further extended. The southern leaders, therefore, con- 
sidered it necessary, in order to preserve slavery, to withdraw 
from the Union. In December, ISfiO, the state of South Caro- 
lina formally withdrew from the Union and at once took 
steps to persuade the other slave states to do likewise. Her 
withdrawal marks the beginning of the American Civil War. 

219. Review and Conclusions. — It is true, perhaps, to say 



The Slavery Question 413 

that the careful and thoughtful student of American history 
is forced to the conclusion that while slavery was the direct 
cause of the Civil War, the topography, climate, and soil of the 
South, and certain industrial conditions, caused the existence 
of slavery in the southern states. The topograpliy, climate, 
and soil of the South caused the southern people, during 
colonial times, to raise large quantities of tobacco, rice, and 
indigo. The extensive production of these staples made slave 
labor very profitable, and caused the number of slaves in the 
South to increase rapidly. As slave labor could not be used 
with great profit in raising a variety of crops, or in manu- 
facturing, the South did not develop along these lines during 
colonial times. At the close of the Revolution, when it looked 
as though conditions would cause the South to begin manu- 
facturing and to begin raising a variety of crops, and thus 
to make slave labor less valuable and finally to cause the 
abolition of slavery, the invention of improved weaving machin- 
ery created an immense demand for cotton, and the invention of 
the cotton gin made it possible to supply this demand. y\s the 
climate and soil of the South were specially suited to the pro- 
duction of cotton, the southern people, under the circum- 
stances, naturally turned their entire attention to its produc- 
tion. As slave labor was specially suited to raising cotton, 
the demand for slaves increased as the production of cotton 
increased, and the question of the peaceful abolition of slavery 
in the South was dropped for the time being. How slavery 
in one section and free labor in the other caused the industrial 
and the social conditions of the South and the North to develop 
along different lines has already been explained. The quarrels 
and disputes which slavery caused between the North and 
the South, and which finally led to civil war, have also been 
explained. At this point it is interesting to ask ourselves this 
question : If during colonial times the colonists who settled 
in the North had settled in the South, and those who settled 
in the South had settled in the North, would slavery have 
continued to exist in the South and would it have died out 
as it did in the North? The chances are that slavery would 
have continued to exist in the South and would not have done 



414 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

so in the North, In other words, the topography, chmate, and 
soil of the two sections, and not the character of their pe()])le, 
controlled this question. 

While speculations of this kind are not very valuable, it 
is also interesting to consider what the result might have been 
if the South had been satisfied to restrict slavery to the cotton- 
producing states and the ])<)rder slave states, and not have 
attempted to extend it into the western territory. \\y so doing, 
by not insisting on a Inigitive Slave Law, and by paying no 
attention to the attacks of the few abolitionists in the North, 
the South could have kept the slavery question comparatively 
(juiet. Under such conditions the chances are that slavery 
would not have, caused a war, because when the Civil War 
began very few people in tlie North wished to interfere with 
sla\ery in the slave stales ; they were simply opposed in its 
further extension and amioyed at the constant agitation of 
the question. It is also cjuite i)robable that had slavery existed 
thus (|uietly in the South, uKxst of the southern states would 
have abolished it in time. Slavery was causing the South to 
remain poor as compared with the North. It had prevented 
the growth of cities and manufactures. The slave states in 
18()0 did not contain half as many whites as did the free 
states. While the natural resources of the South were very 
great, she could not hope to develop them and to become really 
prosperous as long as slavery existed. Some of the southern 
people began to see this, and they began to .say so both in 
writing and speaking. If there had been no dispute between 
the North and the South over slavery, there is no doubt that 
this number would have gradually increased. The fact that 
fewer than one third of the white voters in the slave states 
owned slaves might have caused this nmnber to increase 
rapidly, when once the southern people began to see plainly 
that slavery was a great injury to the v^outli. Lender such 
circumstances it seems reasonable to suppose that the .southern 
states in time would have abolished slavery of their own accord, 
if the slavery (juestion could have been kept quiet in the way 
indicated above. 



Institutional Life 415 



TNSTITUTIONAI. LIFE 

220. Introductory. — Durinrr the period from about 1S2(S to 
18(i() the growth along institutional lines in the United States 
was remarkable and very important. This was really true, 
however, only of the North and West, for in the South there 
was very little change in the five institutions, their conditions 
remaining almost stationary except in a few respects, in the 
North and West the changes in industrial conditions were 
great and very important. In both these sections there were 
also some important changes in the institutions of society, 
government, religion, and education. 

221. Industrial Development; Phases and Results. — Tn 
spite of the panic of 1S;57, and the slighter financial (lei)ression 
which occurred in 1857, the period of Westward hA'])ansion 
and Slavery was one of wonderful industrial advancement for 
the nation as a whole. Foreign immigration, improvements 
in machinery of nearly all kinds, and the great improvement 
in means of transportation and coninumicatir)n, together with 
the opening up of the country which this caused, were all 
factors in this great industrial advance. All these things 
resulted in the building up of great manufactm-ing and com- 
mercial interests in the building of cities, and in the develop- 
ment of new industries. The vSouth did not have her share 
in this general industrial advance. White labf)r was unable 
to compete with slave labor, a fact which not only caused for- 
eign immigrants to go into the North and Northwest, but 
also caused many of the white laborers to leave their old 
homes in the South and go into the North, where free labor 
prevailed. Free labor is necessary for advancement along 
commercial and manufacturing lines, and hence the vSf)Uth was 
prevented from developing its immense natural resources along 
these lines. The only important changes in the industrial con- 
ditions of the vSouth during this period were the continued 
growth of the cotton industry and the firmer establishment 
of the slavery system. The difiference in population in the 
North and the South is good evidence of the difference in the 



4 1 6 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

advance in indnstrial conditions. The northern free states in 
18(10 outniinil)ered the southern slavehohhnjj^ states in white 
pojjulation by about ten niilHons, or more than two to one. 
Since at;riculture tends to scatter population, and manufac- 
turing" and commerce tend to centrahze it, many cities sprang 
up in tlie Nortli. but very few in the South. 

222. Transportation and Communication: (a) Pro found 
Effect of the Railroad and '/V/rt^'^n//'/;. — No advance made 
during this period was of so much importance to the nation 
as the ini])rovenient in the means of transportation and commu- 
nication. At the end of the period of National Oowth and 
European Interference in IS'.'S. the first attempts to build rail- 
roads were just beginning to be made. During that period 
the people had devoted much of their attention and money to 
building canals and roads, in order to secure better means 
of transportation and communication between the different 
sections of the country, and especially between the Kast and 
the \\\^st. The improvement in roads and canals, together 
with the great value to Iransjiortation which resulted from the 
invention of the steamboat, had made the means of trans]wr- 
tation and communication much better by 1S28 than they were 
in 1800. 

But however much canals and roads and steamboat navi- 
gation might have been improved, the extensive territory of 
the nation could not have been well held together under one 
government, nor its vast wealth and resources thoroughly 
developed, if much better means of transportation and com- 
munication had not 1)een provided. The vast areas of rich 
and fertile land which were at a considerable distance from 
navigable rivers could not have been developed to any great 
extent, because the cost of getting the produce to market 
would have been too great. If the means of transportation and 
communication had remained the same as they were in 1828. 
those people who in the future might be li\ing in the great 
central plain west of the Mississippi would have very little 
business or social relations with those living on the Atlantic 
coast ; and those living on the Pacific coast would have still 
less with all those living east of the Rocky "Mountains. This 



Institutional Life 417 

would liavc tended to cause the different sections of the 
country gradually to drift apart, and might have resulted in the 
forming of several nations out of the present territory of 
the United States. This last, perhaps, is a rather extreme 
statement; but when \ve remember that if it were not for the 
railroad, it would require a tiresome journey of months for a 
person on the Pacific coast to reach Washington or New York 
or J'oston, it becomes plain that some sectfons of the country 
would have had very little in common with some of the other 
sections. 

The railroad and the telegraph were, therefore, of the very 
greatest importance to the political, to the industrial, and to the 
social life of the nation. So far as business and government 
are concerned, the nation is smaller to-day than was the state 
of New York or the state of Pennsylvania before the railroad 
and the telegraph were used as means of transportation and 
communication. Since the telegraph came into general use 
it requires but a few minutes to send a message from California 
to Maine, and but a short time to send one around the world. 
Where before it required months to cross the continent, it 
now requires but a few days, and manufactured goods and 
farm products can be quickly sent from almost every ])art of 
the nation to the markets of the world. The railroads have 
caused the rich lands away from navigable rivers to be settled 
up almost as rapidly as those near these rivers. Men with 
money have built railroads out into the wild country where 
scarcely anybody lived, knowing well that the people would 
soon follow, settle on the lands, and thus create good business 
for the roads. The railroads, therefore, have been a very 
strong factor in breaking down the feeling of state rights and 
sectionalism, and in creating among the people a deep feeling 
of love and patriotism for the nation as a whole. They have 
done this by causing the business of the entire nation to become 
closely related, and by enabling many of the people of each 
section of the country to travel a great deal and thus to be- 
come acquainted and friendly with the people of the other 
sections. As a result local customs, local habits, and local 
feeling have ceased largely to exist. Even a new style of 



4 1 8 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

dress will often be worn in all parts of the nation within a 
short time after it is first introduced, whereas if the railroad 
did not exist, it would never be worn at all in some sections 
of the country. In order to get a better idea of the importance 
of the railroad and the telegraph, it is well to stop and con- 
sider what the result would be if they were all to be destroyed 
and no more were to be built. One result would be the im- 
mediate destruction of almost half the prosperity of the nation. 
Millions of people would be compelled to move at once, or else 
starve to death. The value of the railroads and the telegraph 
to the life of the nation and to the prosperity of tlie entire 




An Early Railroad Train 



world can hardly be overestimated. They must, therefore, be 
placed among the very greatest benefits ever secured by man- 
kind. 

(b) Progress of Railroad Building. — The first railroads in 
the United States were planned in the year 1827. and during 
the next year work was begun on several lines. In 1S2S work 
was begun on a railroad which was designed to connect Balti- 
more with the West. It was called the Baltimore and Ohio, 
and was intended to carry both freight and passengers. The 
rails used on first roads consisted of wood, and the wagonlike 
cars or coaches were drawn by horses. The first engines or 



Institutional Life 419 

locomotives were made in England. Several were soon 
brought over to the United States, and in 1829 one was put 
in use on the Baltimore and Ohio road, where iron instead of 
wooden rails were being used. From this time on the people 
paid less attention to the building of canals and wagon roads, 
and turned their attention more and more to the construction 
of railroads. With each succeeding year the railroads constantly 
improved, and the means of travel and of transporting goods 
became better and better. In 1850 there were more than seven 
thousand miles of railroads in the United States, and by 18G0 
the number of miles had increased to about thirty thousand. 
Thus the different sections of the country were being brought 
closer and closer together. Just before 1800 the question of 
building a railroad to the Pacific coast was taken up by the 
people. The national government loaned more than fifty-five 
million dollars to the corporation that undertook to construct it, 
and gave also much valuable land. In 18G9 this road was 
completed, and the long distance between California and the 
East was at last overcome. In addition to the great improve- 
ments in transportation which the building of railroads brought 
about, the improvement in the steamboat during this period 
made steamboat transportation much better and faster. In 
most of the larger cities street horse cars also came into general 
use during this time. 

(c) The Telegraph. — While the railroad did a very great 
service in securing rapid means of communication, the inven- 
tion of the telegraph almost annihilated space between nearly 
all the civilized parts of the world. In 1837 Samuel F. B. 
, Morse secured his first patent on the telegraph instrument. 
Then he began his slow but sure struggle to put the telegraph 
into successful operation. By the assistance of thirty thousand 
dollars granted by Congress he put into successful operation 
between Baltimore and Washington, in 1844, the first telegraph 
line in the world. After this success the construction of tele- 
graph lines proceeded rapidly, and nearly all the large cities 
were soon connected. In 1858, after two attempts had resulted 
in failure, a telegraph line, called a submarine cable, was put in 
into successful operation between America and Europe, but 

30 



420 Westward Expansion and Slavery 



1 


r-^f 


4 


k 


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..tfi^ii^^^ 


.«** :^ 


i^im^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 


.4jii.''' vi^ 


H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 


^g^yM 


^^^^^^^B 


itfH 


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SA.MrKI. 



]\I()KSK 



after a few weeks it failed to work. In 1808, however, another 
cable was laid between America and Hnrope, and this continued 

to work successfully. Thus, 
so far as communication was 
concerned, the ( )1(1 World and 
the New World had become 
practically one. People in 
America could read while eat- 
in_c^ breakfast what had hap- 
pened in Europe the day 
before. The successful oper- 
ation of the railroad and the 
telejT^raph indicated ]i]ainly 
that the forces of nature were 
bein,G^ made to contribute more 
and more to the prosperity and 
happiness of mankind. 

223. Other Inventions and 
Discoveries: (a) Reaper, 
Thresh i 11!^ Machine, and Se^ciiii:; Machine. — While the railroad 
and the tele,<;raph constituted the most important business 
achievements of this jicriod, they were by no means the only 
important ones. There were many inventions which affected 
profoundly the industrial t^rowth of the nation. Contjress 
established the patent office in 1700. between that time and 
18(!0 more than forty-three thousand patents had been issued, 
more than thirty thousand of them being' issued between IS 10 
and ISdO. Since IS 10 the .American i:»eople have led the world 
in the matter of inventions, .'\mong- them the more impi^rtant 
ones which they made before ISHO were the sewing- machine, the 
reajier, and the threshing- machine. TTowe secured the first 
patent for his sewing- machine in IS 1(5. During the next fifteen 
years this machine was made so workable that it brought about 
a marked ehanm" in the cost of all those things that had to be 
sewed, and especially was this true in regard to clothes. Before 
the sewing" machine was invented, all stitching had to be done 
by hand. I land sewing was slow and expensive. The sewing 
machine did awav with a large amoimt of this hand work. 



Institutional Life 



421 




This greatly lessened the cost of clothinj^ and other things 
which had formerly been sewed by hand, and increased the 
output of all these articles. The invention of the reaper and 
the threshing m a c h i n e 
ni a d e fully as great a 
change in the raising of 
grain as the sewing ma- 
chine had df)ne in the 
making f)f all those things 
that had to be sewed. 
McCormick secured the 
first patent on his reaper in 
18:51, and the first thresh- 
ing machine came into use 
about the s a m e time. 
l»efore the reaper and the 
threshing machine were in- 
vented, all the wheat raised 
had to be cut with the 
liand sickle or the scythe, 
and the grains had to be 
removed from the wheat heads by placing the straw on a floor 
and pounding it with sticks called flails, or by driving cattle or 
horses over it. By 1845 the reaper and the threshing machine 
were coming into general use, and the old slow and expensive 
methods of cutting and threshing grain were rapidly disappear- 
ing. Tn many other lines of industry old methods of work, and 
old kinds of machinery used for manufacturing goods, were 
displaced by the more important of the more than thirty-five 
thousand inventions made by the Americans during this period, 
and by some of the other important inventions made by the 
people of Europe, especially by those of England. 

(b) Rubber and Iron Goods; Coal; Cas. — It was during 
this period that Goodyear discovered the process by which raw 
rubber could be used in the manufacture of goods. The result 
has been the manufacture of an immense line of rubber goods, 
many of which are almost absolutely necessary to present indus- 
trial life. The advance in the manufacture of iron goods was 



El.lAS IIOWK 



42 2 Westward Expansion and Slavery 




TllK I'^IUST McCuKMKK RkAI'ER 



also vcl•^■ important. A large niinihcr of new things were made 
from iron, and iron t;oods came into more p^eneral use for 
practical i)urposcs. Tlu' iron indnslry was p^rcatly benefited 
l)v the discovery that hard or anthracite coal could be used for 

heating purposes. 
This coal displaced 
wood not only for 
the jMU'pose of jiro- 
dneing" the h e a t 
necessary f o r the 
manufacture of iron 
goods, but also for 
home use. It was 
during this period 
<?^t!S*^ that gas was first 
used for purposes of 
lighting. Gas began 
to be used for light- 
ing streets and houses in iMigland about 1S13, but it was not 
used for this purpose in the Ignited States until after 18'28. 
The use of gas for lighting pin'poses was ipiite important, 
because kerosene and the kerosene lamp did not come into use 
in F.ngland until :\])ou\ ISIS, and it was later than this that 
the\- were adopted in tlie I'nited v^tates. 

Many of the other inventions made during this time might 
be discussed, but it becomes plain from what has already been 
said alxuU in\entions and discoveries, and the impr(~>vements in 
means of transportation and comnumication that the world made 
greater i^rogress along such lines during the period from about 
IS'iS to ISdO than during all the years before that time. It will 
be seen later that the advance made along these same lines since 
the Civil War has also been of the \ ery greatest importance. 

224. Agriculture and Manufactures. — The ]M-o(hKiion of 
cotton continuetl to be the leading occupation in the South, and 
came to absorb, more and more, the time and energy of all the 
people south of the border slave states. In the border slave 
states and in the North a large variety of crops continued to be 
r;iised. Virginia continued to lead the other states in the 



Institutional Life 423 

production of tobacco. In the northern part of the West the 
l)ro(luction of wheat and corn increased enormously. The 
invention of the reaper, the threshing machine, and improve- 
ments in other farming machinery were of immense value to 
agriculture. This new machinery greatly reduced the amount 
of hard labor on the farm, and made farming much more 
])k'asant and profitable. 

The growth of the manufacturing industry was fully as 
great as that of agriculture. While the real development of 
the great mineral resources of the nation did not take place 
until during the period after the Civil War, the great demand 
for iron goods and the use of coal for heating purposes caused 
the beginning of the extensive mining of coal and of iron ore. 
The development of the gold and silver mines of the Rocky 
Mountains and the Pacific coast region was also proceeding 
rapidly. The mining of iron and coal assisted the growth of 
manufactures, and the growth of manufactures created, in turn, 
a demand for the mineral resources of the nation. The inven- 
tion of much valuable machinery for the manufacture of goods 
of various kinds made increased ])roduction of manufactured 
goods possible. The building of railroads and telegraph lines, 
the invention of the sewing machine, and of many other 
])ractical devices, created a large demand for many new kinds 
of manufactured goods, supplies, and materials. At the same 
time, the amount of cotton and woolen manufactured goods 
increased steadily. The result of all tliis activity caused the 
manufacturing industry to grow so rapidly that the goods 
produced in the United States in 1800 were worth about two 
billion dollars. More than one and a half million men were 
employed in the making of these goods, and they received each 
years in wages about four hundred fifty million dollars. The 
period after the Civil War was to see this growth continued to 
such an extent that to-day the Ignited States stands at the 
head of the manufacturing nations. 

225. Commerce, Domestic and Foreign. — The growth of 
agriculture and manufactures led naturally to the growth of 
commerce. The improvement in steamboat navigation, the 
building of railroads, and the many valuable inventions to 



424 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

which reference has already been made, helped the j:^ro\vth of 
agriculture and manufactures. All this caused the development 
of an immense internal commerce and a steady increase in the 
nation's foreign commerce. By the end of this period Amer- 
ican foreign and domestic commerce combined was larger than 
that of any other nation, but the foreign commerce alone was 
not as large as that of England. It has continued to grow, 
however, and to-day (1905) the foreign commerce of the 
Ignited States is greater than that of any other nation, while 
the domestic commerce of the country has grown even more 
rapidly. 

The shipping industry had also developed rapidly. In ISiiO- 
18G1 more of the world's commerce was carried in American 
ships than in the ships of any other nation. Since that time, 
however, the shipping industry of the United States has 
declined, and to-day England leads the world in the carrying 
of foreign commerce, although England's foreign commerce 
at the present time is smaller than that of the United States. 
It becomes j^lain from all this that the shipping industry of 
the United States was in a more prosperous condition during 
the period of Westward Expansion and Slavery than it had 
ever been before or has been since, and that the growth of the 
nation's domestic and foreign commerce during the same time 
was even more rapid than the growth of its shipping industry. 

226. Growth of Cities. — It is worth noting in this connec- 
tion that the rapid growth of commerce bore a close and very 
important relation to the growth of cities. The growth of 
manufactures and commerce causes the growth of cities, and 
especially is this true of commerce. Agriculture tends to 
scatter population and thus to prevent the growth of large 
cities. When the North and Smith are compared with respect 
to the growth of cities during this period, the correctness of 
this statement is well illustrated. In 1801 Baltimore. St. Louis, 
and New Orleans were the only cities in the South that had a 
population of more than one hundred thousand. The growth 
of cities in the North, on the other hand, has been very rapid. 
In 1828 only about six hundred thousand people lived in the 
cities of the North, but bv 18(50 this number had increased to 



Institutional Life 



425 



almost five millions. At the latter date. New York City alone 
had a population of about eit^ht hundred thousand, while seven 
other northern cities had populations rangin<^ all the way from 
one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand. All these 
lart^e cities were commercial centers, and were therefore rail- 
road centers, and centers for either ocean navigation or inland 
steamboat navig-ation. All this illustrates still further that 
slavery, by restrictintj the South to agriculture, was preventing 




Street Scene in New York City in 1859 

there the growth of manufactures, of commerce, and of cities, 
and was causing the South to fall behind the North rapidly in 
wealth and population. 

227. Social Conditions: (a) Class Distinctions. — During 
the period of Westward Expansion and Slavery, as was also 
the case during the period of National Growth and European 
Interference, the most :amportant change in social conditions 
was the breaking down of class distinctions in the North and 
the continuation of sharp class distinctions in the South. Dur- 
ing this period the division of the northern people into classes 
became less and less marked, while the division of the southern 



426 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

people into classes remained almost as sharp and distinct as 
during colonial times. The laro,e slaveholders continued to 
be the absolute leaders in politics and society. They dominated 
and controlled almost every phase of southern life. Their 
leadership was accepted by the middle and lower classes as a 
matter of course. The middle class continued to consist of the 
traders and the small farmers, while the tJiird class of whites 
continued to consist of the "poor whites." The negroes con- 
stituted the fourth class of southern society. 

In the North there were no Ioniser any well-defined classes 
among- the people, and especially w-as this true in the western 
part of the North. The idea that one man was better than 
another simply because of his birth or because he was wealthy 
was being accepted by fewer and fewer people. More and 
more people were coming to judge a person's real worth solely 
by his character, ability, and education. This idea tends to 
bring all men to a common level so far as government and 
social relations are concerned. Tn the election of Jackson, and 
in the organization of state and national nominating conven- 
tions, the people had asserted this common equality in govern- 
ment and politics. They had also come to assert it in many of 
the social relations. In steamboat travel, in the public coaches 
and stages, and in the public tavern or hotels, marked attention 
and favored treatment were seldom received by a person simply 
because he was wealthy or because he belonged to a certain 
family. In all such public relations the tendency was to treat 
all men alike. 

(b) CJwngcs in Social Life; Dress; Amusements. — The 
strongest factor in breaking down class distinctions in the 
North during the period .of Westward Expansion and Slavery 
continued to be the growth and application of liberal democratic 
ideas. The coming of the railroads, however, was a factor of 
scarcely less importance. In the rush of commerce, trade, 
manufacturing, and travel which the i^ilroad helped to create, 
people had less time to think about class distinction. In the 
great material growth which took place during this period all 
men were equal. This equality in business relations tended to 
bring about equality in social relations. The railroads had a 



Institutional Life 427 

very strong influence also on the dress and amusements of the 
people. Rapid means of travel caused amusements and the 
styles of dress to become more alike throughout -the country, 
though of course in these things many marked differences still 
existed. Especially was this true as between the cities and the 
country. The city population had increased from less than one 
million in 1828 to about five million in 18G0. In the country, 
parties, dances, horse racing, field sports, barn raisings, and 
husking parties were the principal forms of amusement. In 
the rapidly growing cities there was much gay social life. 
Parties, balls, clubs, and theaters furnished the principal means 
of amusement. In the matter of dress, food, and general 
comforts there was a distinct advance in the North in both 
country and cities. The great mass of the people wore better 
clothes, ate better food, and had more comforts. This was 
due to the rapid growth of manufactories and the railroads, 
which made it much easier for the people in all parts of the 
country to secure manufactured goods and a larger variety 
of food. 

228. Government: (a) Democratic Tendencies in National 
Government. — During the period of Western Expansion and 
Slavery the tendency of government was to become more dem- 
ocratic. The changes which took place in government during 
the period of National Growth and European Interference were 
of the same nature. The whole tendency of government, there- 
fore, from 1789 to 1860, was toward democracy. By this is 
meant that the people demanded a more direct and more com- 
plete control of national, state, and local government. They 
gradually secured this. The election of Jackson was their first 
great triumph. The organization of national nominating con- 
ventions which resulted in active presidential campaigns 
completed their control of the national government. As has 
already been explained, this was an entire change from the 
■ideas of government which existed when Washington was first 
elected President. 

(b) Growth of Popular Control in State and Local Govern- 
ments. — Similar changes took place in state government. The 
constitutions of the new western states were much more liberal 



428 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

and democratic than were those of the older states. Many of 
the constitutions of these western states provided that more 
officers be elected by the people, and in many cases the powers 
of the governor and legislature were limited. Changes of a 
like nature took place in the constitutions of the older states. 
Many of the older states during this period either amended 
their constitutions or adopted new ones, and in almost every 
case the people secured a more complete control of state gov- 
ernment. The changes in local government were in the same 
direction. More of the local officials were elected directly by 
the people. At the beginning of this period the question of 
city government was not of great importance because the cities 
were small, but their rapid growth in the North caused city 
or municipal government to become of more and more impor- 
tance. As in the case of state and county government, the 
government of cities was very democratic. It is worthy of 
special notice that the changes in state and local government 
in the older slaveholding states were much less democratic than 
in the other states. In 1860 South Carolina was the only state 
in which the people had not secured the right to elect presi- 
dential electors. In that state they were still chosen by the 
legislature. This slow growth of democratic ideas in the South 
was due, at least to a large extent, to the aristocratic ideas 
which slavery preserved. 

(c) CJiange in Manner of Selecting Judges. — ^One phase 
in the growth of government toward democracy deserves most 
careful consideration. The changes made during this period 
in many of the state constitutions provided for the election of 
judges directly by the people, and usually for short terms. In 
most cases before this the state constitutions provided for their 
appointment, and usually for terms lasting for life or during 
good behavior. It will be remembered that all the judges in 
all of the United States courts, from the Supreme Court down 
to the District Courts, are appointed by the President and 
confirmed by the United States Senate. In this connection it 
is well to remember that the selection of judges is one of the 
rnost important questions before the American people. The 
legislative department makes the laws, and the executive depart- 



Institutional Life 



429 



ment executes the laws, but the judicial department interprets 
and applies the laws and decides whether or not they are in 
accordance with state and national constitutions. The life, the 
liberty and the property of every person is, to a certain extent, 
in the care and keeping of the courts. If the judges are dis- 
honest, or if they are not learned and able, or if they can be 
influence in their decisions except by what is right and just 
the rights of no citizen 
are safe. Bearing in 
mind the great impor- 
tance of the position 
which a judge occu- 
pies, this question pre- 
sents itself: Is it best 
to elect local and state 
judges by popular 
vote ? It sometimes 
happens that some of 
the judges elected are 
not able men, and that 
they have been elected 
because they belong to 
a certain political 
party. Some do not 
seem to realize the 
grave importance of 

the position which they occupy, and are sometimes inclined to 
give too much consideration to the popular effect which their 
decisions may have. The people desire to elect able and honest 
men for judges, and in most cases succeed; but the voter is not 
always in a position to decide whether or not the man running 
for this office will make an honest and able judge. It might 
be better, therefore, for county and state judges to be appointed 
by the state in some such way as are the judges of the United 
States courts, although this might not prove entirely satisfac- 
tory. One thing is certain, no citizen should ever vote for a 
candidate for judge simply because that man happens to belong 
to his political party. In voting for a man for the position of 




Edgar Allan Poe 



43© Westward Expansion and Slavery 



judge, a voter should do everything possible to find out which 
of the candidates will make the best judge, and then vote for 
him without any regard to politics. The people cannot guard 
the judicial department with too much care. 

229. Religion. — 
About ISoO a great 
wave of religious 
enthusiasm, which 
was accompanied by 
a general reforming 
spirit, swept over 
the nation. This re- 
sulted in the rapid 
growth of nearly all 
the clunxh organi- 
zations. The mem- 
bership of the dif- 
ferent churches in- 
creased rapidly, and 
this tended to raise 
the standard of 
morals among the 
masses of the peo- 
ple. In the latter part of this period, slavery caused a division 
in some of the churches, and different branches were formed, 
the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal 
Church South being examples of this. The Mormon Church 
had its rise at this time, and the persecution of its members on 
account of their doctrines led to their migration into the West. 
At first the Mormons settled in Illinois, but subsequently they 
migrated to Utah, where they formed a government of their 
own. 

230. Education: (a) Public School System. — As has 
already been stated, the United States for about thirty years 
after the beginning of the Revolution went backward in matters 
of education. From about 1810 to 1828 there was a gradual 
improvement in the public schools, and especially was this true 
in the western states. While this sfrowth continued throusfhout 




Nathaniel Hawthorne 



Institutional Life 



431 



the period of Westward Expansion and Slavery, the improve- 
ment in the schools was not rapid. The number of elementary 
schools continued to increase, however, and many high schools, 
academies, and colleges were established, in most of which 
good work was done. While the work done in these schools 
was much inferior to 
that done in similar 
schools to-day, it was 
becoming better and 
better. Such men as 
Horace Mann were 
devoting their time 
and best efforts to 
the improvement of 
the public schools, 
and by and by this 
excellent work was 
to result in great 
good to education. 
Jnst before the Civil 
War the people be- 
gan to demand better 
schools and a better 
system. As wall be 
seen later, the earnest and unselfish work of a few able men 
caused a remarkable improvement in education after the Civil 
War. 

(b) Improvement in General Literature and General Edu- 
cation. — The improvement in general literature and general 
education was much greater than the improvement in the pub- 
lic schools. With the exception of Washington Irving, James 
Fenimore Cooper, and William Cullen Bryant, there were 
no great American writers during the period of National 
Growth and European Interference. But the period of West- 
ward Expansion and Slavery saw a distinct and notable im- 
provement in this respect. Irving, Cooper, and Bryant did 
much- of their best work after 1828. Hawthorne, Poe, Emer- 
son, Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier, Holmes, Prescott, Park- 




James Russell Lowell 



432 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

man, and others wrote during this period and produced much 
of the nation's best literature. The writings and the pubhc 
lectures of these men did much to create right ideals, and to 
raise the standard of education and culture among the masses 
of people. The desire for learning and literature, which the 
work of these men created among the people, affected pro- 
foundly the growth of literature and education after the Civil 
War. It will be seen a little later that the Civil A\'ar. instead 
of checking the growth of industry, education, and literature, 
stimulated growth along these lines beyond anything which 
the nation had yet experienced. 



QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 

Questions for Class Recitations 

Over what part of American history does the period of National 
Growth and European Interference extend? What were the main 
features or characteristics of this period? Over what part of 
American history does the period of Westward Expansion and 
Slavery extend? What were the main features or characteristics 
of this period? Explain carefully the relation between the main 
features of these two periods. 



POLITICAL METHODS AND POLITICAL PARTIES 

Questions for Class Recitations 

Describe some of the main results which the growth of liberal 
democratic ideas brought about during the period of National 
Growth and European Interference. Explain how the first six 
Presidents of the United States represented the upper or aristo- 
cratic class of society. For how long did these men control the 
national government? To what class did both Washington and 
Jefferson believe the higher officials of the national government 
should belong? What were their ideas as to who should vote? 
Explain carefully in what way the election of Jackson was contrary 
to the ideas of Washington and Jefferson. Discuss the character 
of Jackson, and show how his election marks the complete triumph 
of democracy in the United States. Explain carefully the differ- 



Questions and Topics 433 

ence between the detuocracy of JofYerson ami the democracy of 
Jackson. (This question deserves the most careful consideration.) 

Upon what basis were men appointed to oflice under the 
national government before Jackson was elected President? Give 
a careful explanation of the Spoils System. When, by whom, and 
wliy was this system intrmluced into iiatii^ual politics? Discuss 
tlie evil effects of the Spoils System. How has Congress in recent 
years tried to overcome the evil effects of this system? 

What is a presidential elector? How is the number of presiden- 
tial electors to which each state is entitled determined? Why did 
tlmse wlio framed the Constitution desire that the President should 
be electetl by electors instead of directly by tlie people? Give a 
careful explanation of how the electors were chosen during the 
early history of the nation under the Constitution. Explain how 
this affected the interest wliicii the people took in the election of 
the President. Explain how the growth of democratic ideas af- 
fected the manner of electing electors. How did this affect the 
interest which the people took in the presidential election of 1824 
and the one of 1828? 

Before the presidential campaign of 1832 how were tlie candi- 
dates for President and Vice President nominated? How were 
they nominated in the campaign of 1832? What is the object and 
the composition of national nominating conventions? What was 
the origin and what is tlie nature of national jiolitical platforms? 
Explain carefully how the complete state and national organization 
of political parties gave the people control of, and increased their 
interest in. presidential elections. Give a full explanation of the 
nature and object of the campaign methods which the complete 
organization of political parties brought aboijt. 

Why, in what wiiy, and when did the Republican party break up? 
What new parties were formed during this period, and when were 
they formed? Who were the Democratic Presidents during this 
])erio(l, and over what years did the term or terms of each extend? 
Explain the principles of the Democratic party. What was some 
of its most important work? Who were the Whig Presidents, and 
over what years did the term of each extend? Discuss the princi- 
l^les of the \\'hig party. Explain why these principles were not 
carried out when this party was in power. What effect did this 
have on the party? What caused the organization of the Repub- 
lican party, and what was therefore one of the main principles of 
this party? 

Questions for Compositions and Ex.\minations 

Compare, by a discussion, the main features or characteristics of 
the period of National Growth and European Interference with 



434 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

tlic main features or cliaractcristics of the period of Westward Ex- 
pansion and Slavery. Give a careful discussion of the meaning of 
Jackson's election. Discuss the Spoils System, including its origin, 
development, and effect. Give a careful discussion of this sul)ject, 
— ^manner of electing presidential electors, including the effect of 
the change in the manner of electing. Discuss the origin and re- 
sult of national nominating conventions, platforms, and campaigns. 
Discuss the reorganization of political parties during Jackson's « 
first administration. Discuss the principles and important meas- 
ures of the Democratic party during this period. Discuss the prin- 
ciples of the Whig party and tlie cause of its fall. Discuss the 
origin of the Republican party. 



FIN.\NCIAL LEGISLATION: THE TARIFF 

Questions for Class Recitations 

Explain why the tariff of 1828 is known as the Tariff of Abomina- 
tions. Explain carefully how this tariff came to be passed. Why 
had the South become opposed to the protective principle of the 
tariff? Mow was the tariff of 1828 received in the South? Com- 
pare the doctrine stated in the Exposition and Protest of South 
Carolina with the doctrine stated in the^ Virginia and Kentucky 
Resolutions, and in the Hartford convention. In what way had 
Calhoun changed his views on these questions? What do you 
lliink caused him to do tiiis? What is meant by the right of nulli- 
fication? Describe carefully the trouble which the national gov- 
ernment had with South Carolina over the question of the tariff. 
What were the terms of the compromise tariff of 18^? What 
other changes were made in the tariff during this period? 

When was llie first and llie second charter of the United States 
Bank granted, and when did each of these charters expire? What 
is meant by a monopoly? Explain why Jackson was opposed to 
the Ignited States Bank. Explain the way in which tliis bank be- 
canu- liu- main issue in the presidential campaign of 1832. Explain 
how Jackson succeeded in destroying the United States Bank. Ex- 
jilain carefully how the destruction of the United States I'ank 
caused the organization of many state banks. What led to the 
issuing of large sums of paper money? What is hard money? 
Why was this paper money not so good as hard money? Explain 
the meaning of speculation. Explain carefully how the distribu- 
tion of the govcrnnient funds among the state banks, and the mak- 
ing of paper money by these banks, led to a great deal of specula- 
tion at this time. What first caused the paper money that was 
issued by the state banks to become of less value than gold or 



Questions and Topics 435 

silver? Wliat is meant by specie? What is meant by specie pay- 
ment? Explain why Jackson issued his specie circular. How did 
this circular cause paper money to become of still less value? 

Describe the conditions that caused a surplus of forty million 
dollars to accumulate to the credit of the United States durinf? the 
years 1835 and 1836. What was done with this surplus? Explain 
carefully how the distribution of the surplus to the various states 
caused the value of paper money to become still less. When the 
paper money became almost worthless, how was business afifected? 
What is the condition of business when a financial panic is said 
to exist? Describe the condition of business during the financial 
panic of 1837. Describe the Independent or Subtreasury System. 
How did the panic of 1837 lead to the establishment of this system? 

Questions for Compositions and E.xaminations 

Give a full discussion of tlie tariff of 1828 and the trouble which 
the national government had with South Carolina over this tariff. 
Give a full discussion of the United States Bank, showing clearly 
how its destruction led to the financial panic of 1837. Discuss the 
Independent Treasury System. 



GROWTH OF THE NATION IN TERRITORY AND 
POPULATION 

Questions for Class Recitations 

What were the boundaries of the United States at the close of 
the Revolution? Describe the increase in the territory of tlie 
United States between the Revolution and 1820. Explain carefully 
the importance to the United States of the territory secured dur- 
ing this time. Why were Jefferson and other leading Americans 
anxious to secure the Oregon country, and why was the territory 
of special value to the United States? Explain events leading to 
the final settlement of the Oregon question, and the terms of the 
treaty that settled this question. 

What conditions caused the South to desire to secure more slave 
territory? Describe the settlement of Texas by the Americans. 
Was there anything unusual about this advance of the Americans 
into Texas? Explain carefully how Texas became independent of 
Mexico. Why was the South strongly in favor of annexing Texas, 
and why was the North opposed to this? Explain how the annex- 
ation of Texas and the Oregon question became important issues 
in the presidential campaign of 1844. Explain how the annexation 
of Texas brought on the Mexican War. Do you think the United 

HI 



43^ Westward Expansion and Slavery 

States was justified in beginning this war? Give reasons for your 
answer. Briefly describe General Taylor's campaigns. Briefly de- 
scribe General Scott's campaign. Give the time, place, and ex- 
plain the terms of the treaty that ended the war with Mexico. 
How was additional territory secured from Mexico in 1853? 

Explain carefully how the United States secured all the territory 
which it secured from the beginning of the American Revolution to 
the beginning of the Civil War. Explain the value to the United 
States of each addition in territory. How did the growth of the 
United States in population during the period of Westward Ex- 
pansion and Slavery compare with its growth in territory? What 
states were formed in the great central plain during this period? 
Discuss the growth in population of the Oregon Territory. Dis- 
cuss the growth of California and its admission to tlic Union. 

Questions for CoMrosiTioNS and Examinations 

Discuss the entire controversy between England and the United 
States over the Oregon Territory. Discuss the conditions and 
events which led to the annexation of Texas. Discuss the causes, 
campaigns, and results of the war with Mexico. Discuss quite 
fully the growth of the United States in territory and population, 
including the importance of this growth. 



' THE SLAVERY QUESTION 

Questions for Class Recitations 

Explain -why the question of slavery during this period would be 
related naturally to the growth of the nation in territory. To what 
extent did the IMissouri Compromise settle the question of slavery? 
Describe the gradual abolition of slavery in the northern states, 
and explain carefully the reasons for this. What was the feeling 
in the South toward slavery from about the close of the Revolu- 
tion to 1800? What was the cause of this feeling? Explain care- 
fully the conditions which caused the South, after about 1800, to 
become more and more in favor of slavery, and which caused slav- 
ery to become more and more firmly rooted in southern industrial, 
social, and political life. 

What is meant by abolition and Abolitionists as related to the 
slavery question? Describe the growth of the abolition sentiment 
in the North, and explain the attitude of the Abolitionists toward 
slavery. On what grounds did the Abolitionists force the South ta 
defend slavery? Describe fully how the people in the South and 
most of those in the North treated the .Xbolitionists. Why did the 



Questions and Topics 437 



Abolitionists send petitions to Congress? Explain the attitude of 
the southern members of Congress and of many of the northern 
members toward these petitions against slavery. Explain what is 
meant by tlie Gag Resolutions. In what way did these resolutions 
violate the Constitution of the United States? What efifect did 
these resolutions have on the people of the North? What effect 
did the slavery petitions and their discussion in Congress and by 
the press have on the people of the South? 

Explain very fully why the South was very much opposed to the 
admission of California as a free state. Why was the North 
strongly in favor of admitting California into the Union as a free 
state? In what way was the question of slavery in relation to the 
territory secured from Mexico first brought up for discussion in 
Congress? Explain the conditions that caused Clay and Webster 
to. submit and urge the adoption of the Compromise of 1850. Ex- 
plain each provision of this compromise, and the effect or bearing 
of each of these provisions on the slavery question. 

What was "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and what was its effect on the 
slavery question? In what way did the Fugitive Slave Law and 
the strong attempt of the South to enforce it affect the slavery 
question? Explain carefully what was meant by the doctrine of 
Popular or Squatter Sovereignty. Who was the author of this 
doctrine? How did it affect the question of slavery in all the west- 
ern territory? Explain the provisions of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. 
Explain fully how the doctrine of popular sovereignty as applied in 
the Kansas-Nebraska Bill affected the settlement of Kansas. How 
did the struggle in Kansas influence the people of both the North 
and the South in regard to the slavery question? What were the 
conditions that led to the Dred Scott Decision? State clearly the 
principles of this decision, and explain carefully what would have 
been their effect on slavery if they had been fully carried out. 
What general effect did the Dred Scott Decision and the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill have on the people of the North? 

Discuss the conditions that led to the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. 
Explain the main phases of the slavery question that were dis- 
cussed in these debates. Explain the attitude of both Lincoln and 
Douglas on these questions. What effect did these debates have 
on the people of the nation? What effect did they have on the 
future of Lincoln and Douglas in connection with the presidential 
campaign of i860? Tell why the election of Lincoln caused some 
of the southern states to secede. 

Explain very fully how the topography, climate, and soil of the 
eastern part of the United States caused slavery to be abolished in 
the North and not to be abolished in the South. Explain how the 
invention of improved weaving machinery and the cotton gin af- 



438 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

fcctcd the growtli of slavery in the South. To what extent was 
the difference in tlie topograpliy, climate, and soil of the North 
and South the real or fundamental cause of the American Civil 
War? In j-our opinion, what would have been the result, so far as 
slavery is concerned, if the colonists who settled in the South had 
settled in the North, and those who settled in the North had set- 
tled in the South? What general effect was slavery having on in- 
dustrial conditions in the South? If slavery had been quietl)' 
restricted to the cotton-raising states and the border slave states, 
and if the question of slavery had not become an important issue 
between the North and South, what do you think would have fin- 
ally been the fate of slavery in the southern states? 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Discuss the conditions affecting the growth of slavery. Discuss 
the rise of the Abolitionists, and the effect of their work on the 
slavery question. Discliss the Gag Resolutions and their effect on 
the slavery question. Discuss the conditions which led to the Com- 
promise of 1850, and the provisions and results of this compromise. 
Discuss the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and its effect on the slavery 
question. Discuss the Dred Scott Decision. Discuss the Lincoln- 
Douglas Debates, including in this discussion the conditions which 
led to these debates, the principles discussed in them, and their 
results on the future of slavery. Beginning with the difference be- 
tween the topography, climate, and soil of the North and South, 
give a careful discussion of the causes which led to the American 
Civil War. 



INSTITUTIONAL LIFE 

Questions for Class Recitations 

What was the nature of the growth along institutional lines dur- 
ing the period of Westward Expansion and Slavery? WMiat were 
the conditions or factors which caused this growth? Compare the 
industrial growth of the South with that of the North and North- 
west. Explain carefully what caused this difference. Compare the 
North and South with regard to population and cities, and give the 
causes for the difference which existed between the two sections 
in these respects. 

Review briefly the improvement in means of transportation and 
communication that was made during the period of National 
Growth and European Interference. Explain fully what might 
have been the effect on the nation if the railroad and the telegraph 



Questions and Topics 439 

had not been invented. Explain why the nation is smaller to-day 
for purposes of business and government than was the state of 
New York or the state of Pennsylvania before the railroad and tele- 
graph came into use. In what way did the railroad help to settle 
up the country? Explain carefully how railroads helped the 
growth of the feeling of national unity. Discuss what the results 
would be to-day if all the railroads and all telegraph lines were 
destroyed. 

Describe the origin of railroads in the United States and the 
character of those first built. Describe the growth of railroads in 
the United States up to i860. Describe the origin of the telegraph 
and the growth of telegraph lines in the United States up to i860. 
Describe the origin of the trans-Atlantic cable. Explain carefully 
the value of the telegraph. 

Describe briefly the growth of inventions in the United States 
from 1790 to i860. Name some of the more important inventions 
made during the period of Westward £xpansion and Slavery. De- 
scribe the origin of the sewing machine, and explain its importance 
to industrial conditions. Describe the origin of the reaper and the 
threshing machine, and explain their importance to industrial con- 
ditions. Describe carefully some of the other inventions and dis- 
coveries made during this period, and explain the value of each. 
Indicate in a general way the value to mankind of all these inven- 
tions and. discoveries. 

Describe the condition of agriculture in the different sections of 
the country. Explain carefully how the invention of new ma- 
chinery affected the growth of agriculture. What can you say 
about the development of the great mineral resources of the nation? 
Explain how the invention of new machinery affected the growth 
of manufactures. What was the condition of the manufacturing 
industrj^ in i860? How did its condition then compare with its 
condition to-day? Explain how the growth of agriculture and 
manufactures afifected the growth of commerce. What was the 
condition of American commerce in i860, and how does its con- 
dition now compare with its condition then? What was the con- 
dition of the American shipping industry at that time, and how 
does its condition now compare with its condition then? Explain 
carefully the efifect of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce on 
the growth of cities. Show plainly how the growth of cities in the 
North and South during this period illustrates this principle. In 
what way was slavery connected with the growth of cities in the 
South? 

What was the most important change in social conditions during 
the periods of National Growth and European Interference and 
Westward Expansion and Slavery? Discuss each of the classes 



440 Westward Expansion and Slavery 

which existed in southern society during the latter period. Ex- 
plain carefully why these sharp class distinctions still existed in the 
South. Give a full and careful discussion of the causes whicli 
tended to destroy class distinctions in northern society. Explain 
the effect of these causes or principles on social relations in the 
North. How did the railroads affect the manners, customs, and 
amusements of the people? Compare the amusements of the 
people in the country with the amusements of those in the cities. 
Explain the conditions which enabled the people to have better 
food and better clothes. 

What was the nature of the change in government during the 
period of Westward Expansion and Slavery? Explain in what way 
this was true with regard to the changes in national government. 
Explain in what way it was true with regard to the changes in state 
government. Explain in what way it was true with regard to 
changes in local government. Explain in what way and why these 
changes did not apply to the South. Explain carefully why the 
judicial department of government is so very important. Explain 
carefully why the selection of judges is of so great importance. 
Why may the election of judges by popular vote be unwise and re- 
sult in injury? If you were voting for a man for the position of 
judge, and there were several candidates, how would you decide 
for which one to vote? 

What was the nature of the changes or growth in religious con- 
ditions during this period? How did this growth afifect the stand- 
ard of morals among the masses of people? Review briefly the 
condition of education during the period of National Growth and 
European Interference. Describe carefully the growth of the pub- 
lic school system during the period of Westward Expansion and 
Slavery. Describe the conditions which existed during this time 
that caused rapid improvement in the public schools after the Civil 
War. What was the condition of literature during the period of 
National Growth and European Interference? What was its con- 
dition during the period of Westward Expansion and Slavery? 
Name some of the more important writers of this period, and one 
of the more important works of each. Explain carefully the effect 
that the work of these men had on the masses of the people. In 
what way did the work of these men afTect literature and education 
after the Civil War? What effect did the Civil War have in this 
respect? 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Discuss the nature of the industrial changes which took place 
during the period of Westward Expansion and Slavery. iDiscuss 
the improvements in the means of transportation and communica- 



Questions and Topics 441 

tion, and the effect of this improvement on the industrial and social 
life of the nation and on the growth of national unity. Discuss 
some of the other important inventions and discoveries of this 
period, and their effect on the industrial life of the nation. Discuss 
the growth of agriculture and manufactures. Discuss the growth 
of comme-rce and cities. Discuss the changes in social conditions. 
Discuss the changes in government. Discuss the changes in re- . 
ligion. Discuss the growth of literature and the public schools. 



THE SHIP OF STATE 

Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! 

Sail oil, O Union, strong and great! 

Humanity with all its fears. 

With all the hopes of future years, 

Is hanging breathless on thy fate! 

We know what ^Master laid thy keel, 

What Workmen wrought thj- ribs of steel. 

Who made each mast, and sail, and rope. 

What anvils rang, what hammers beat. 

In what a forge and what a heat 

Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! 

Fear not each sudden sound and shock, 

'T is of the wave and not the rock; 

'T is but the flapping of the sail, 

And not a rent made by the gale! 

In spite of rock and tempest's roar. 

In spite of false lights on the shore. 

Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! 

Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee; 

Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears. 

Our faith triumphant o'er our fears. 

Are all with thee, — are all with thee! 

— Henry W. Longfellow 
Copiiriiiht bii Hoiujhtoii. Mifflin d- Co. 



THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 



THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 

RESOURCES OF THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH 

I. Commanders, INIilitary Supplies, arid Available Soldiers 
II. Means of Transportation: Financial and Industrial Resources 

SECESSION AND BEGINNINGS 
I. The Right of Secession 
II. Secession 

III. The Fall of Fort Sumter 

IV. The Battle of Bull Run 

CAMPAIGNS 
I. Introductory 
II. Scope and Nature of Campaigns: Method of Treatment 

III. The Eastern Campaign 

1. The First Advance on Richmond 

2. The Battles of Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg 

3. The Emancipation Proclamation 

4. The Battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg 

5. Summary of Eastern Campaign 

IV. The Western Campaign 

1. The Western Commanders 

2. Union Successes in Western Tennessee 

3. The Capture of New Orleans 

4. The Battles of Perryville and Murfreesboro: Result of the 

Year's Work — 1862 

5. The Capture of Vicksburg 

6. The Battles of Chickamauga and Chattanoog;. 

7. Result of the Year's Work — 1863 
V. The Campaign of 1864-1865 

1. The War in the West and the South 

2. The War in Virginia 

THE WORK OF THE NAVY 
I. Blockade of the Southern Ports 
II. Commerce Destroyers 
III. Revolution in Naval Warfare 

GENERAL RESULTS OF THE WAR 
442 



Resources of the North and the South 443 



RESOURCES OF THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH 

231. Military Leaders; Military Supplies; Available 
Soldiers. — The main or fundamental causes of the American 
Civil War, and the political events which led to it directly, 
have already been discussed and developed rather fully. It is 
well now tp review briefly the difference between the resources 
of the seceding states and those which supported the national 
government. In two respects the South had, at first, the advan- 
tage of the North. At first she had abler generals in command 
of her armies, and a larger supply of military stores. There 
were many men of military training in both the North and 
South, and a few of great miHtary genius ; but the ablest 
military leaders of the North did not secure command of the 
Federal armies until several years after the war began, while 
the southern armies were commanded by the ablest southern 
generals from the very first. 

The larger part of the government's military suppHes had 
been stored in southern arsenals before the beginning of the 
war, and the Southerners took possession of these arsenals 
as soon as the war began. Because of this, the South at first 
had more military supplies than did the North. But this was 
only for a short time. The great manufacturing establish- 
ments of the North soon enabled the Federal government to 
secure an ample supply of war material, while an almost total 
lack of manufactories in the South, and the blockade of the 
southern ports by the Federal navy, soon produced a great 
scarcity of war material in the southern states. 

In population the North also had a great advantage. The 
total population of the United States in 18 GO was about thirty- 
one millions. The white population of those southern states 
which seceded and united to form the Confederate States of 
America was less than six millions, while the white population 
of the states which supported the national government was 
more than twenty milHons. This gave the North a great 
advantage, because she could, if necessary, raise fully three 
times as many soldiers as could the South. But while the 
Federal armies were usually larger than the Confederate 



444 The American Civil War 

armies, the North (Hd not raise half as many soldiers in pro- 
portion to the white po])iilation as did the South. 

232. Means of Transportation. — In the means of trans- 
porting: troops, war material, food and other supplies, the North 
had a g^reat advantage over the South. As compared with the 
large and increasing network of excellent railroads in the 
North, the South had hut few. and tliese were not well 
equipped. Neither did she have the material and the skilled 
workmen to keep those which she did have, in good repair. 
The Federal government had little trouble in transporting 
soldiers and supplies from one part of the country to another ; 
but the Confederate states, on the other hand, found it very 
difficult to do this. In some parts of the South the people 
actually suffered because the means of transporting food to 
them from those parts of the South where it existed in abun- 
dance were so poor. For this same reason the Confederate 
soldiers often did not have enough to eat. 

233. Financial and Industrial Resources. — In the matter 
of financial resources, the North had a still greater advantage 
over the South. The money of the South consisted almost 
entirely of that received for the cotton, tobacco, rice, and corn 
which she exported to the North and to Europe. After the 
Federal navy blockaded the southern ports, this source of 
wealth was destroyed. Hard money — that is, gold and silver 
— soon became very scarce in the South, and one of the most 
difficult questions which the government of the Confederacy 
was called upon to solve was the question of securing enough 
money to maintain her armies in the field in good condition. 
This she did not fully succeed in doing. She issued paper 
money, as did the Continental Congress during the Revolu- 
tion, and like the Continental currency. Confederate money 
depreciated in value and soon became almost worthless. 
Worthless money, lack of manufactories, and the blockade of 
her ports destroyed the business of the South and caused great 
suffering among the people and among the Confederate sol- 
diers. The Federal government, on the other hand, was able 
to secure enough money to equip and maintain her armies in 
the field in excellent condition as compared with the condition 




Abraham Lincoln 



445 



44^ The American Civil War 

of the southern armies. She secured this money by taxation, 
by the sale of more tlian one billion dollars' Avorth of bonds, 
and by issuinsj^ about five hundred million dollars' worth of 
paper money and more than five hundred and fifty million 
dollars' worth of interest-bearing notes, the latter being another 
form of paper money. The bonds were sold without much 
difficulty, and although paper money depreciated in value, a 
dollar in gold was never worth as much as three dollars in 
pajxM- money, and during most of the war a gold dollar was 
worth less than two of paper money. At this point the question 
may arise as to why the government of the Confederacy could 
not have sold as many dollars' worth of bonds as did the 
national government, and kept its paper money worth as nnich. 
The reason was simply a matter of faith on the part of the 
people. The people did not believe that the Confederate 
government would ever be able to redeem its bonds and paper 
money, and they did believe that the national government 
would be able to redeem the bonds and paper money which it 
had issued. The question may also arise at this point as to 
why the government of the Confederacy could not raise money 
by taxation. It did raise some in this way ; but as business in 
the South was almost ruined, the people did not have gold and 
silver money, and the almost worthless paper money was of 
scarcely any value to the government. In the North it was 
quite dilYerent. There, business and wealth and population 
actually increased during the war. This enabled the people 
of the North to pay large sums of money in taxes to the 
national government. 

It becomes plain from what has been stated, that during the 
entire war the North in matters of business, wealth, and gen- 
eral prosperity increased rapidly, and that in all these matters 
the Confederacy — a great deal weaker than the North at the 
beginning of the war — became w^eaker and weaker as the war 
progressed. It was during this war that the national govern- 
ment loaned more than fifty million dollars to the corporation 
that built the first railroad between California and the East. 
When the small white population of the Confederacy and her 
small available resources are compared with the large white 



Secession and Beginnings 447 

population of the North and her immense resources, the wonder 
is that the Confederate government was able to maintain the 
war as long- as it did. Nothing but the patriotism and bravery 
of their soldiers ever enabled the Southerners to do so. They 
were Americans, and were fighting for what they believed to 
be right. 

SECESSION AND BEGINNINGS 

234. Secession from the Constitutional Standpoint. — 

There has been a great deal of discussion as to whether or 
not the Constitution of the United . States gave a state the 
right to secede or withdraw from the Union. Many of the 
nation's ablest men have asserted that the Constitution gave 
this right, and many have asserted that it did not. The weight 
of opinion seems to be that the Constitution gave no such right. 
This would seem to be the sounder view. The Constitution 
was adopted, not by the states as states, but by the people of 
each state, and therefore in substance by the people of the 
United States. That this was the purpose and intention of 
those who made and adopted the Constitution is indicated 
plainly by the preamble of the Constitution. The preamble 
does not say that We the States of the United States do so 
and so, but it says, "We the people of the United States, in 
order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure 
domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote 
the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to 
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Con- 
stitution for the United States of America." Neither does the 
Constitution provide that the national government shall act 
upon the people through the states, but it provides that the 
laws of the United States shall act directly upon each individual 
citizen. The Constitution makes it the duty of the President 
to take care that the laws of the United States are carried 
out faithfully ; and when a state law, therefore, interferes or 
conflicts with a national law, the national law must prevail 
over the state law, for otherwise the President could not 
enforce the national law. The Constitution creates a judicial 
department and makes it the duty of this department to decide 



44^ The American Civil War 

— when the question is properly broui^^ht before it — whether 
or not a law passed by Conj^ress is in accordance with the 
Constitution. And finally, the Constitution itself provides a 
method whercl)\- it may l)c amended or chani^ed. 

235. The Natural Right of Revolution. — This indicates 
plainly that no state has a legal or constitutional rig^ht to with- 
draw from the l^'nion unless the Constitution be so amended 
as to give that right. It follows, therefore, that when the 
southern states withdrew from the Union, they did so without 
the sanction of the Constitution. This does not mean that 
those southern states which withdrew from the Union did not 
have the natural right of revolution, or that they should be 
denounced for exercising this right ; it does mean, however, 
that they did not and could not withdraw from the Union in 
accordance with the Constitution. The natural right of a person 
to protect and defend his life and liberty against the attacks 
of another person is higher than any law or constitution. This 
same principle applies to the people of a nation. If a govern- 
ment attempts to deprive them unjustly of life or of liberty, 
or of rights which they hold especially dear, they have the 
natural right — in fact, it is their duty — to throw ofif the 
authority of that government if possible. English laws did 
not give the Americans the right to withdraw from England 
and form the United States ; but it is generally conceded that 
the attacks on their liberties gave them the natural right to 
do this. The natural right of revolution, however, ought not 
to be exercised unless a despotic government seriously threatens 
the destruction of the great principles of human liberty, and 
probably a representative government will never do this as 
long as it carries out the will of the majority of the people 
whom it represents. 

It should be remembered distinctly, as indicated above, that 
many of the ablest men in the United States do not agree with 
some of the conclusions reached in this and the preceding 
paragraph. 

There can be no question that nearly all of those who fought 
in the Confederate armies believed thoroughly that the North 
was trying to deprive them of their rights, and that they were 



Secession and Beginnings 449 

therefore fighting for their Hberties. Believing this, they would 
not have been worthy the name Americans if they had done 
otherwise. But on this point the southern people were mis- 
taken. Their civil and political liberties were in no danger 
whatever, and therefore conditions did not justify an appeal 
to the natural right of revolution as was the case at the time 
of the American Revolution and at the times when the English 
people rose in revolution against their king in defense of the 
civil and political rights which were transferred to America 
and which we now enjoy (see pages 197-243). The North 
had no intention of interfering with the liberties of the southern 
people ; the northern people were merely determined that there 
should be no further extension of slavery. But the long and 
bittt^r disputes between the North and South over the slavery 
question had caused the great mass of the southern people to 
misunderstand the real intentions of the northern people. While 
slavery was the real or basic cause of the war, it will be seen a 
little later that the northern people sprang to arms, not for 
the purpose of destroying slavery, but to preserve the Union 
and to protect its flag; and that the southern people sprang to 
arms, not for the purpose of defending slavery, but to prevent 
the northern armies from invading their soil, and, as they sup- 
posed, from destroying their rights and liberties. On these 
points Lincoln in his second inaugural address said: "Neither 
party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which 
it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of 
the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict should 
cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less 
fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and 
pray to the same God ; and each invokes His aid against the 
other." In this same connection, President Roosevelt in a 
Memorial' Day address at Portsmouth, Virginia, said: "More- 
over, the men to whose valor we owe it that the Union was 
preserved have left us a country reunited in fact as well as 
in name. They have left us the memory of the great deeds 
and the self-devotion alike of the men who wore the blue and 
of the men who wore the gray in the contest where brother 
fought brother with equal courage, with equal sincerity of 

S2 



450 The American Civil War 

conviction, with equal fidelity to a high ideal, as it was given 
to each to see that ideal." 

236. Secession and Formation of the Confederacy. — Nearly 
all the leaders of the South before the Civil War were slave- 
holders. The admission of California as a free state, and the 
result of the struggle in Kansas, had convinced the southern 
leaders that the South could no longer control the national 
government, and that the free-soil or non-slaveholding states 
would control the United States Senate as well as the House 
of Representatives. Many of the southern leaders believed, 
very likely, that the growing sentiment against slavery in the 
North would finally cause" the northern people to force the 
abolition of slavery in the South. JMany of them seemed to 
desire to form a nation in the South that would have slavery 
for its basis or corner stone. They thought that if they could 
do this they could preserve slavery without any further inter- 
ference from the North. It was necessary, however, to be 
very careful in taking so radical a step, for about two-thirds of 
the voters in the South were not slaveholders ; and while 
this large number was in the habit of looking up to the slave- 
holders and following them as leadefs, they might object to 
the destruction of the Union and to the formation of a new 
nation. The leaders of the South believed that the election of 
Lincoln would enable them to convince the people of the South 
that nothing but complete separation from the North would 
enable them to protect their liberties from the aggression of 
the northern people. They therefore decided to withdraw from 
the Union. South Carolina was the first state to take definite 
action. On December 20, ISfiO, her state convention, which 
had been elected and called for the special purpose of consider- 
ing this question, passed a resolution declaring that South 
Carolina was no longer a part of the United States. Within 
six weeks, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, 
and Texas had taken similar action, and thus seven states had 
formally withdrawn from the Union. On February 4, ISlU, 
delegates from all but one of these states met at r^Iontgomery, 
Alabama, and organized a government which they called the 
Confederate States of America. This convention elected 




Jefferson Davis 



451 



452 



The American Civil War 



Jefferson Davis acting or provisional president, and Alexander 
H. Stephens acting or provisional vice-president. Davis and 
Stephens were afterwards elected to the same positions by the 
people of the Confederacy. The senators and representatives 
from these states resigned their positions in the national Con- 
gress, and thus these seven states completed, so far as thev 

were able, their 
separation from the 
United States. 

237. The Fall of 
Fort Sumter: (a) 
A''afiouaJ Property 
ill the Confeder- 
acy. — A f t e r the 
southern states had 
seceded they began 
to take possession 
of the forts, arse- 
nals, and other 
United States prop- 
erty within their 
borders. President 
Buchanan made no 
real attempt to pre- 
vent this. ^^''hen 
Lincoln on March 
4, 18G1, took the 
oath of office pre- 
scribed by the Constitution, he stated in his address that he had 
no intention whatever of interfering with slavery where it 
already existed ; but he maintained that no state could legally 
withdraw from the Union, and that he proposed to hold all the 
national property and to enforce the national laws in all the 
states. He also said in his address that he hoped there would 
be no bloodshed or trouble of any kind, and that if any occurred, 
it would be forced upon the national authority. By his oath of 
office and in accordance with his interpretation of the Consti- 
tution of the United States, Lincoln was bound to do what he 




James Buchanan 



Secession and Beginnings 



453 



said he intended to do. On the other hand, the Confederate 
States of America were bound to drive from their borders the 
authority of the United States, for they could not be a nation 
and at the same time permit the laws of the United States to 
be enforced within their borders. This condition of affairs, of 
course, meant civil war, the only question being as to which side 
would make the first attack. Lincoln's policy compelled the 
government of the Confederacy to do this. 




Bombardment of Fort Sumter 



(b) Attack on the Fort. — Fort Sumter, in South Carolina, 
was one of the few in the Confederacy that still remained in 
control of the national government. Lincoln decided to send 
food and supplies to this fort. When the government of the 
Confederacy learned this, it ordered the Confederate general 
Beauregard to demand of Major Anderson, who was in com- 
mand of the fort, that he surrender it. Anderson refused. 
The Confederate army then opened a heavy cannon fire on the 
fort. This was on April 13, LSGl. Two days later Anderson 
was compelled to surrender, although no one had been killed 
or even seriouslv wounded on either side. This aroused and 



454 The American Civil War 

united the people of the North as nothing else could have done. 
The question of slavery at once sank out of sight. The northern 
people demanded that the honor of the flag be maintained, and 
that the Union be preserved. 

(c) Restilfs. — The day after the surrender of Fort Sumter, 
Lincoln issued a proclamation in which he requested the states 
to raise seventy-five thousand soldiers in order that he might 
be able to enforce the national laws in the Confederacy. Lin- 
coln's call for seventy-five thousand soldiers for use against 
the Confederacy aroused and united the people of the South, 
and caused them also to forget the question of slavery. The 
great mass of the southern people now believed that the North 
intended to destroy their rights and liberties. This belief 
united them in the determination that no northern army should 
ever invade the South. During April and May, Virginia, 
North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas withdrew from the 
Union and joined the Confederacy. The capital of the Con- 
federate States was now removed to Richmond, Virginia. The 
northwestern part of that state', however, refused to join the 
Confederacy, and in ISli;* it was admitted to the Union as the 
state of West Virginia, 

It is very difficult for those who were not living during the 
Civil War to understand and realize fully the intense excitement 
and l)ittcr feeling which the attack on Fort Sumter and Lin- 
coln's first call for soldiers created in both the North and the 
South. The editorials and the articles which appeared in the 
newspapers and magazines at that time indicate that the feeling 
could hardlv have been much stronger or the excitement much 
more intense. The Federal government and the Confederate 
government each began to raise and e(iuiii armies. 'Slnuy more 
men wished to become soldiers than were desired or could be 
accepted. Verv few people, however, thought the war would 
last long, and each side expected an easy victory over the other. 
The people nf both sections were soon to realize their mistake. 

238. Battle of Bull Run; Results. — A ITnion army attacked 
a Confederate army at a little town in Virginia called Manassas 
Junction, which is about thirty-five miles southwest of Wash- 
ington and is located on a little creek called Bull Run. This 



Campaigns 455 

battle, known as the battle of Bull Run, was a complete victory 
for the Confederates. The Union army fled in confusion from 
the field. The result of this battle caused the national govern- 
ment and the people of the North to realize for the first time 
that they must prepare for a great war if they wished to force 
the Confederate states back into the Union. The North was 
now more determined than ever to do this. Congress at once 
directed Lincoln to raise and equip an army of five hundred 
thousand men. At first many of the southern people thought 
that the battle of Bull Run would end the war ; but when they 
saw the North raising immense armies, they also began to 
realize for the first time the real nature 01 the conflict that was 
just beginning. The Confederate government hastened the 
organization and equipment of great armies in order to meet 
those which the North was organizing. The battle of Bull 
Run, therefore, was quite important, because it taught the people 
that a great war was at hand, and caused the national govern- 
ment and the Confederate government each to begin gigantic 
preparations for that great struggle. 

CAMPAIGNS 

239. Introductory. — The campaigns of the Civil War were 
so extensive and included so many battles that it requires a 
book of at least four or five hundred pages to give them even 
a fair treatment. In a history of the United States for school 
use, therefore, they can be outlined only in a general way. 
In the discussions which follow an attempt is made to give a 
clear idea of the purpose, more important battles, and result 
of each campaign, but no attempt is made to go into detail. 
Pupils should read, if possible, some larger work on this war 
in order to get a broader and fuller idea of the great struggle 
which involved the very life of the nation. The fourth volume 
of Hart's "Source Readers of American History" will give an 
excellent idea of the real spirit and feeling which existed among 
the people at that time, and of the actual conditions and experi- 
ences of army life. 

240. Object and Nature of Campaigns: (a) Organisation 
and Work of Northern Armies. — The object of the national 



45^> The American Civil War 

s^ovornment was to defeat the Confederate armies, invade the 
Confederacy, and compel the seceded states to come Ijack into 
the I'nion. To accompHsli this, the North huilt a navy and 
ori^anized the threat Army of the Potomac and a number of 
great armies in the West. The Army of the Potomac was to 
defend Washington and capture Richmond. The armies of 
the West were to secure control of the Mississippi and thus 
separate the Confederate states of Texas, Louisiana, and 
Arkansas from the other Confederate states, drive the Confed- 
erate armies out of Kentucky and Tennessee, and invade the 
Confederate states farther south. The navy was to blockade 
all the southern ports, so as to prevent the Confederacy from 
securing- any assistance or supplies from other nations. 

(b) Or^^nnication and Work of Southern Armies. — The 
object of the Confederate government was to defeat the 
northern armies and compel the national government to permit 
the receded states to become an independent nation. To accom- 
plish this, the South organized the great Army of Northern 
Virginia and a number of great western armies. * The western 
armies were to oppose and defeat the northern armies in the 
West. The Army of Northern Virginia was to oppose and 
defeat the Army of the Potomac. In one respect the Army of 
Northern Virginia differed from all the northern armies and 
from all the southern armies. It was the only one that had 
the same commander during almost the entire war. Robert R. 
Lee was its commander. 

General Lee was a native of Virginia, and a son of Light- 
Horse Harry Lee of the Revolution, whose mother was a 
sweetheart of Washington's in his youthful days. When the 
Civil War began, Lee was an officer in the army of the United 
States ; but when his native state seceded, he felt that it was 
his duty to follow her and defend the cause which she had taken 
up. Lee was one of the very ablest generals that the war 
produced on either side. The successes of the Army of 
Northern Virgina were due in no small degree to his military 
genius. He was a man of high and noble character, and w^hile 
he scarcely knew what personal fear meant, his nature and 
disposition were kind and generous. In speaking of his refusal, 



Campaigns 457 

after the surrender at Appomattox, to request the other Con- 
federate generals to surrender, Grant says of this great 
southern commander: "I knew there was no use to urge him 
to do anything against his ideas of what was right." Many of 
the other great men of the nation have praised General Lee, as 
Grant did, because of his character, ability, and honesty of 
purpose, all of which indicate that he is held in high esteem 
by leading Americans — North as well as South. 

(c) Method of Treatment. — In order to add clearness to 
the treatment of the land campaigns of the Civil War, they will 
be discussed under these three general heads: (a) the Eastern 
Campaign; (&) the Western Campaign; (c) the Campaign of 
1SG4-18G5. The Eastern Campaign will include the contest 
between the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern 
Virginia to the time Grant became commander in chief of the 
Union armies, which was in March, 1864 ; the Western Cam- 
paign will include the war in the West up to that time ; and 
the Campaign of 18n4-18()5 will include the work of Grant as 
commander-in-chief. In order to make the treatment of these 
campaigns somewhat more logical, the Eastern Campaign will 
be taken up first. 

241. The Eastern Campaign: (a) The First Advance on 
Richmond. — Soon after the battle of Bull Run, in July, 18(51, 
General McClellan was placed in command of the Army of the 
Potoriiac. He was directed to capture Richmond. He devoted 
about seven months to organizing and drilling his army. By 
the latter part of February, 18G2, he had a well organized and 
equipped army of about one hundred and seventy-five thousand 
men. Two plans were proposed for reaching Richmond. The 
authorities at Washington thought that the better plan was for 
the army to inarch directly south. But McClellan objected to 
this because of the many rivers that it would be necessary to 
cross, and because the Confederates had erected strong fortifi- 
cations between the Potomac and Richmond. He advised that 
the army be transferred by water to Yorktown, Virginia, and 
from there proceed against the capital of the Confederacy. 
McClellan's plan was at last accepted by Lincoln and his 
advisers. 




RouiiUT E. Lee 



ids 



Campaigns 459 

About seventy-five thousand men were retained for the pro- 
tection of Washington, tind an army of about one hunch-ed 
thousand under the command of IMcClellan was landed near 
Yorktown. Much vahiable time was consumed in the capture 
of that city, but at last the Army of the Potomac began its 
advance on Richmond. A number of severe' battles were 
fought, in which the losses on both sides were heavy. The 
Union forces came within about ten miles of the Confederate 
capital, but McClellan retreated to Harrison's Landing on the 
James River, although his army was larger than the army 
under Lee. Meanwhile General Stonewall Jackson marched 
up- the Shenandoah Valley with a division of Lee's army, and 
in several battles completely defeated several divisions of the 
Union army. Lee had instructed Jackson to attempt the cap- 
ture of the city of Washington, or at least threaten to do so, in 
order to induce the national government to bring back McClel- 
lan's army for the defense of that city. This is actually what 
Jackson's success caused the authorities at Washington to do. 
In August, McClellan and his army sailed for the North, and 
thus the first attempt to capture Richmond ended in a complete 
failure. The total loss on both sides as a result of the fighting 
around Richmond was nearly forty thousand. 

(b) 'I'Jic luillles of Bull Run, Antictani, and I'rcdcricks- 
hui'i:^.— No sooner hacl Lee gotten rid of McClellan's army on 
the James River than he marched rapidly northward, joined 
forces with Jackson, and in the second battle of Bull Run, on 
August 29-30, inflicted a crushing defeat on the LTnion army, 
now under the command of General Pope. T^ee then marched 
into Maryland for the purpose of invading the North. The 
combined Union army, which had again been placed under the 
command of General McClellan, met him at Antietam. In the 
battle which followed the Union loss was about twelve thousand 
and the Confederate loss about ten thousand. After this bloody 
battle Lee retreated into Virginia and erected fortifications near 
Fredeiicksburg, just south of the Rappahannock. Burnside, 
who had been placed in command of the Army of the Potomac, 
after the battle of Antietam, attacked Lee in this strong po- 
sition on December 13, and was defeated with a loss of more 




EASTERN CAMPAIGX 
CIVILi AVAR 

S CALE OF MILES 
10 20 aO 40 ..U SO 



460 



Campaigns 46 1 

than thirteen thousand men, the Confederate loss beinj^' less 
than five thousand. This battle ended the Eastern Campaign 
for the year 1862. The attempt of the Army of the Potomac 
to invade Virginia and capture Richmond had failed. In fact, 
the army had met with a number of serious defeats. 

(c) Emancipation Proclamation. — In the face of these 
defeats Lincoln took a firm stand on the slavery question so far 

^v />»>.i.'A27"..^ 0\«.'U.t 4 cc^ t'^^w^^ ,^-?w e<7*>^4i0<«.Ma£7^t.^«y, 

Facsimile of Portion of Emancipation Proclamation 

as slavery in the Confederacy was concerned. On September 
22, 18G2, he issued a proclamation in which he stated that all 
slaves would be free in all those states or parts of states that 
should still be carrying on war against the national government, 
on the first day of January, 18 (53. When that day came, he 
issued another proclamation setting free all slaves in the Con- 
federacy except in those parts that were then occupied and 




462 The American Civil War 

controlled by the national j:^overnment. The proclamation did 
not affect slavery in any way in the slave states of Delaware, 
Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, because 
they had not seceded from the Union. Neither did it affect 
slavery in Tennessee, and in some parts of several other Con- 
federate states, because that territory was under the control of 
the national government on January 1, 1803. Neither did it 
abolish slavery in any part of the Confederacy. The proclama- 
tion simply freed those • negroes who were held as slaves on 
January 1, 1803, in all parts of the Confederacy which were 
under the control of the Confederate government at that time. 
If the Confederacy should be forced back into the Union, 
slavery might again be established in all this territory, but the 
slaves freed could not be re-enslaved. The Emancipation Proc- 
lamation, therefore, was strictly a military measure. As com- 
mander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, 
Lincoln freed the slaves in the Confederates states in order to 
injure the Confederacy and hasten the end of the war. 

But in spite of the Emancipation Proclamation Ijeing a mili- 
tary measure, the people of the L'nited States and the people of 
other nations soon came to believe that the success of the Union 
armies meant the abolition of slavery in America. This created 
a stronger sentiment in favor of the North and weakened the 
position of the Confederacy. Personallv, Lincoln strongly 
desired the total abolition of slavery in all parts of the L^nited 
States. He induced Congress to pass a resolution offering to 
pay three hundred dollars for every slave in all the loyal slave 
states. None of these states, however, would accept the offer 
and abolish slavery. On April 10, 1802, Congress abolished 
slavery in the District of Columbia, and paid the owners three 
hundred dollars for each slave. The slaveholders in the loyal 
slave states were finally compelled to free all their slaves with- 
out any compensation, because soon after the war was over an 
amendment made to the Constitution abolished slavery in all 
parts of the United States, and no provision was made for any 
payment whatever. 

(d) Battles of ChanccUorsviUc and Gettysburg. — After the 
battle of Fredericksburg, Hooker was placed in command of 



Cam 



paigns 



463 



the Army of the Potomac. Toward the latter part of April 
he moved across the Rappahannock for the purpose of attack- 
ing Lee in his fortified position near Fredericksburg. Although 
Lee had but a few more than half as many men as Hooker, he 
attacked the L^nion army on May 1, at Chancellorsville, and in 
a three days' battle drove it back across the river in utter defeat. 




Scene at Battle of Gettysburg 



Stonewall Jackson was accidentally killed in this battle by his 
own men. His death was a serious loss to the Confederate 
army, as he was one of Lee's ablest commanders. 

After his victory over Hooker, Lee decided to attempt for 
the second time the invasion of the North. General Meade 
was given command of the Union army. On July 1 the LTnion 
and Confederate armies met at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. 
The battle raged for three days, and resulted in the defeat of 
the Confederate army. It was the greatest battle of the Civil 
War, and among the greatest of the world's battles. The 



464 



The American Civil War 



flight ingf on both sides was heroic. The total loss in killed and 
wounded was over fifty thousand, or more than one fourth of 
all those engaged. Lee retreated into Virginia and endeavored 
to secure more soldiers for his shattered army. 

(e) Summary of Bastcni Camf>oii!;ii. — There were no other 
important battles in the East until the spring of 1804, when 
General Grant was placed in command of all the Union forces. 
By that time almost three years had passed since the first battle 
of Bull Run. During tliis time the national government had 
not been successful in the invasion of X'irginia, and the Armv 
of the Potomac had suffered a number of reverses. Gettvsburg 
was the only serious defeat which the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia had suffered, and that was serious only because Lee was 
unable to secure enough soldiers to take the place of those lost. 
The South was becoming exhausted, not only in supplies and 
money, but also in men for enlistment in the armv. It is not 
easy to say to what extent the success of the Army of Northern 
\'irginia. during the first three years of the war. was due to 
the fact that the Army of the Potomac had five dift'erent com- 
manders. The fact that the Confederate army was under the 
command of General Lee tluring nearly all of this time had a 
great deal to do with the reverses and defeats which the Union 
army suft'ereil. At this point it is interesting to turn to the 
West and see what was taking place there between the opposing 
armies during the time that the two eastern armies had been 
engaged in this desperate struggle. 

242. The Western Campaign: (a) U'cstcrii CiVUDiandcrs. 
— The war in the West tleveloped many of the ablest L'nion 
commanders. Among them may be mentioned Grant. Sherman, 
Thomas, Sheritlan, and others. Foremost was l\ S. Grant. 
The war protluced no greater general than he on either side. 
He was successful in every campaign which he undertook. His 
success was due in a large measure to his good common sense 
anil stubbonmess of purjiose. He planned his work easily and 
with extreme common sense, and carried out the plans of his 
most important battle antl campaigns as quietly and calmly as 
a business man carries out an everyday business transaction. 
His promotion from a small command to the position of 



galinevjllel.-, - 
Sti/lien\dl!el 

iEaglepoijt 




465 



466 The American Civil War 

lieutenant .c^encral or commander-in-chief was due in no respect 
to political inHuence or favoritism. In fact, during^ the first 
part of the war these influences were against him, and he was 
treated unjustly by his superior officers, and unjustly criticised 
in many ways. He did not complain, however, but performed 
his duty faithfully. His rapid advance in command was due 
to his uniform success, and to that alone. Sherman was one 
of his closest friends, and perhaps his ablest commander. They 
were together during a large part of the war, and Grant had 
implicit confidence in him. Sherman had the ability to plan 
extensive campaigns and to carry them out successfully. 
Second in ability only to Grant and Sherman, among the north- 
ern commanders, were Thomas and Sheridan. If space per- 
mitted, other able Union commanders might be mentioned in 
this connection. 

(b) Capture of Ports Donclson and Henry. — As has 
already been stated, the work of the Union armies in the West 
was to secure control of the Mississippi and occupy Kentucky, 
Tennessee, and the Confederate states farther south. The work 
of the Confederate armies in the West was to prevent the 
Union army from doing this. At first the Union and Confed- 
erate forces faced each other on a line extending from Cairo, 
Illinois, almost due eastward across the state of Kentucky. In 
the early part of 1802 Grant was placed in command of a 
small l^nion force that occupied Cairo. Halleck had general 
command of all the Union forces in the West. 

In February, Grant with the assistance of Commodore Foote 
moved against Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. Both of these 
forts were just south of the Kentucky line. Fort Henry was 
on the Tennessee River about fifty miles from where it empties 
into the Ohio River ; and Fort Donelson was situated orb the 
Cumberland a short distance southeast of Fort Henry. It was 
very important that the Union forces get control of these forts, 
because their possession would give the I'nion gunboats con- 
trol of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, and the gunboats 
would be of great assistance to the Union army in securing 
control of the state of Tennessee. Foote with his fleet of gun- 
boats captured Fort Henry. Grant attacked Fort Donclson. 




Ulysses S Grant 



467 



468 The American Civil War 

After three days' fig^htinp^, Buckncr, the commander of the 
Confederate forces, asked Grant what terms of surrender lie 
would ofifer. Grant replied : , "No terms except unconditional 
and immediate surrender will be accepted. I propose to move 
immediately upon your works." Buckner surrendered the fort 
and his army of fifteen thousand men. Thus Grant, on the 16th 
of February, won the first great Union victory. 

(c) Island A'o. 10; Battle of Pittsburg Landing; Corinth 
and Memphis. — Halleck now moved his army in several divis- 
ions southward toward Corinth in Mississippi. One division 
moved down the west bank of the Mississippi and assisted 
Foote with his s^unboats in the capture of Island No. 10, which 
the Confederates had fortified in order to prevent the Union 
forces from securing^ control of the Mississippi. Grant with 
his division of the anuy marched south from Fort Donelson 
across the state of Tennessee. On April (i he was attacked by 
a Confederate army under Albert Sidney Johnston. This battle 
was fou.qht near the southern boundary of Tennessee, on the 
Tennessee river at a place called Pittsbur,2: Landing, about one 
hundred miles east of the Mississippi. The battle of Pittsburg 
Landing, or Shiloh, lasted about two days and resulted in the 
defeat of the Confederate army and in the death of General 
Johnston. It was one of the most hotly contested battles of the 
war, the total loss being almost twenty-five thousand. Halleck 
now imited the several divisions of his army, and during May 
aiul June captured Corinth and Memphis, the latter city being 
situated on the Mississippi in the southwest corner of Ten- 
nessee. 

(d) Tlic Capture of Nezv Orleans. — During the month in 
which the battle of Pittsburg Landing was fought, Admiral 
Farragut with a L^nion fleet, assisted by a Union army under 
General P>utler, began an attack on New Orleans and its 
defenses. This was a part of the l^nion campaign for securing 
control of the Mississippi. The possession of New Orleans and 
the mouth of the Mississippi was deemed of especial value to 
the national government, because their possession would 
deprive the Confederacy of the large amount of military and 
other supplies that were being brought into New Orleans, and 



Campaigns 



469 



into Texas by way of Mexico, and forwarded from there into 
the other Confederate states. The several mouths of the Mis- 
sissippi which led to New Orleans had been well fortified and 
obstructed by the Confederates. Two forts had been built 
below the city in order to destroy any Union ships that might 
attempt its capture. In addition to this the Confederates had 
a small fleet of war vessels above these forts. The capture of 
the city seemed almost impossible, but Farragut was a com- 




Farragut in Mobile Bay 

mander of unusual ability and determination. He removed the 
large chains and other obstructions which the Confederates 
had placed in the river, ran his vessels past the forts, and amid 
a storm of shot and shell destroyed the Confederate fleet and 
compelled the city to surrender. A little later he proceeded 
up the river and captured Baton Rouge. The capture of New 
Orleans was one of the greatest Union victories of the war, 
and, together with other victories which he won, it has justly 
given Admiral Farragut a high place among the greatest naval 
commanders of the world. 



47° The American Civil War 

(e) Battles of Perryvillc and Murfrecshoro. — After their 
defeat before New Orleans and the capture of Corinth and 
Memphis, the Confederates made a desperate attempt to recover 
the eastern part of Tennessee and Kentucky. The Confederate 
army that had been organized for this purpose was placed 
under the command of General Bragg, who was a commander 
of ability. The Union forces had occupied nearly all of Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee. The detachments in eastern Tennessee 
and Kentucky were now united and reinforced. General Buell 
was placed in command of this united army. Bragg with his 
army of about thirty thousand marched from Chattanooga on 
the southern boundary of Tennessee northward across both 
Tennessee and Kentucky and reached the Ohio River. Buell 
followed him closely, and on October 8 the two armies came 
together at Perryville in Kentucky, where an important battle 
was fought. After this battle the Confederate army returned to 
Chattanooga, but soon began another march northward. By 
this time Rosecrans, with Thomas and Sheridan for two of his 
generals, had been put in command of the I^nion army in 
eastern Tennessee, and was on the march to Chattanooga at 
the time Bragg started northward. The two armies met at 
Murfreesboro in Tenneessee, and on December 31 a great 
battle was' fought. The total loss was about twenty-two 
thousand, or more than one fourth of all those engaged. After 
this battle Bragg again returned to Chattanooga. This ended 
the year's work in the West. 

(f) Result of Western Cainpaig^n in 1802. — At the begin- 
ning of 18r)3 the Confederacy controlled the Mississippi froni 
just south of Cairo, Illinois, to its mouth and occupied much 
of Missouri, the southern part of Kentucky, and all the southern 
states south of these two. By the end of the year the Confed- 
erates had lost all of Missouri and Kentucky, nearly all of 
Tennessee, a part of Alabama, Mississippi, and TvOuisiana, and 
had lost control of the Mississippi except along the western 
boundary of the state of Mississippi and for a short distance 
south of that state. Vicksburg was the only important city on 
the Mississippi which the Confederacy still possessed. From 
all this it becomes plain that the result of the campaign in the 



Campaigns 471 

West was in striking contrast with the one in the East. It will 
be remembered that the Eastern Campaign for this year ended 
with Lee's invasion of Maryland and with the crushing defeat 
of the Union army under Burnside at Fredericksburg. 

(g) ■ The Capture of Vicksbiirg. — The most important work 
left for the Union armies in the West after 18G2 was the cap- 
ture of Vicksburg, which would give the national government 
complete control of the Mississippi. After the capture of 
Memphis in June, 18()2, Halleck was called to Washington 
and Grant was soon put in supreme command of all the Union 
forces in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. He 
soon began to plan for the capture of Vicksburg, one of the 
most strongly fortified military posts in the Confederacy. It 
was situated on high blufifs on the east bank of the Mississippi. 
Just north of these bluffs the country was so low and swampy 
that it was almost impossible for an' army to approach the city 
from that direction. Grant realized fully the great difficulty 
that would have to be overcome before this stronghold could 
be captured, but he was determined to succeed. Sherman, one 
of Grant's commanders, made an attack on some of the defenses 
of Vicksburg, but was defeated. Grant then devoted several 
months in attempts to secure some advantage for an attack, but 
was not successful. He finally decided to transfer his army to 
a point below the city and make an attack from the south. He 
directed Porter, who was in command of the Union fleet of 
gunboats, to run his boats down the river past the forts during 
the night. Although the forts opened a terrific fire on the 
Union fleet, it succeeded in getting by them without much loss. 
Grant then marched his army down past Vicksburg on the west 
bank of the river, and Porter with his gunboats carried it across 
to the east bank. This action of Grant's in placing his army 
below Vicksburg was the most daring thing attempted by any 
commander during the war. He had separated his army from 
its base of supplies in the North, and two Confederate armies, 
each almost as large as his own, at once made preparations to 
attack him. One of these armies was in Vicksburg, under the 
command of Pemberton ; the other was near Jackson, the cap- 
ital of Mississippi, and was under the command of Joseph E. 



472 The American Civil War 

Johnston. By rapid marches, Grant threw his army between 
these two Confederate armies, and in several battles he defeated 
Johnston and captured the city of Jackson. He then turned 
upon the army of Pembcrton and drove it back into Vicksburg. 
This was all accomplished in a few days. It was the most 
(larint^ and brilliant work of the war, and proved that Grant 
possessed military g-enius of a his^h order. 

The Union army was unable to carry the defenses of Vicks- 
burp: by direct assault, and so settled down to a rej^^ular sie^c^e. 
The Confederate army within the city made a heroic defense. 
The storm of shot and shell from the Union cannon was so 
terrible that the people in the city were compelled to live in 
caves and cellars. Pemberton held the city for seven weeks, 
and surrendered only when his soldiers and the people were 
nearly starved. The surrender took place on July 4, 1803, just 
one day after Lee's defeat at Gettysburg-. A few days later 
the other places which were held by the Confederates on the 
Mississippi south of Vicksburg surrendered. Thus the national 
government at last secured control of the Mississippi from its 
mouth to its source. This completely separated the Confed- 
eracy and prevented Texas. Louisiana, and Arkansas from 
rendering much further assistance to the southern cause. 

(h) Battles of Chickaiiiaiii^a and Clwttaiwo(:^a. — After the 
battle of Gettysburg and the surrender of Vicksburg, the 
entire war, as far as the fighting was concerned, centered for 
a few months in eastern Tennessee at and near the cities of 
Chattanooga and Knoxville. Lee sent one division of his army 
into eastern Tennessee under the command of General Long- 
street. General Burnside, who was sent west with one division 
of the Union army, occupied Knoxville. A little later a division 
of the Army of the Potomac was sent into eastern Tennessee 
under the coiumand of General Hooker. Before X'icksburg 
surrendered, and before Longstreet. Burnside, or Hooker 
arrived, Rosecrans had succeeded in forcing Bragg to leave 
Chattanooga. As soon as Bragg received more soldiers, he 
attacked Rosecrans in the Chickamauga \^illey near Chatta- 
nooga. This battle of Chickamauga, fought on the IHth and 
20th of September, was one of the bloodiest and most desperate 



Campaigns 473 

of the war. Had it not been for the stubborn and splendid 
resistance made by General Thomas with the left wing of the 
Union army, the Confederates would have won a great victory. 
As it was, the right wing of the Union army was defeated and 
driven from the field. 

Thomas was now put in command of this army. He was 
besieged in Chattanooga by Bragg, and Longstreet besieged 
Burnside in Knoxville. Lincoln became alarmed at the situa- 
tion in eastern Tennessee. He ordered more soldiers sent from 
the East, and put Grant in command of all the Union armies 
in the West. Grant started at once for Chattanooga, placing 
Sherman in command of a part of the army that had captured 
Vicksburg, with instructions to follow with it as rapidly as 
possible. After the soldiers under Sherman had arrived, and 
Grant had completed his plans, he ordered a general attack on 
the Confederate lines. This battle, which began on November 
23, and ended on the 25th, included some magnificent fighting. 
The Union soldiers in the charges up Lookout Mountain and 
Missionary Ridge did not stop where their of^cers had com- 
manded them to stop, but with wild cheers rushed on and 
carried the Confederate batteries at the top. The battle resulted 
in the complete defeat of the Confederate army, which was 
compelled to make a hurried retreat into Georgia. Grant now 
sent Sherman to the relief of Burnside at Knoxville. As 
Longstreet did not consider his army strong enough to meet 
both Sherman and Burnside, he marched back into Virginia, 
where he joined the Army of Northern Virginia under General 
Lee. 

(i) Result of Western Cainpoi\^n in 1803. — The result of 
the campaign in the West in 18fi3, as in 18(12, was in striking 
contrast with that of the campaign in the East. It is true that 
Lee had been defeated at the battle of Gettysburg, but he was 
able to remain in the northern part of Virginia in peace and 
safety. The Union army had prevented him from making a 
successful invasion of the North, but he had prevented the 
LTnion army from invading the South, although he had a 
smaller mmiber of soldiers than had the L^nion commanders. 
It was quite different in the West. There the Union armies 



474 



The American Civil War 



had won victory after victory. Grant had captured an entire 
Confederate army at \'icksburg, had secured control of the 
Mississippi, and by the end of the year had inflicted a crushing 
defeat on the Confederate forces in eastern Tennessee. His 
successes had hushed all criticism, and they had secured for him 
the confidence of Lincoln and the northern people. 




243. Campaign of 1864-1865.-^1 March, 18G4, Grant was 
made lieutenant general and given command of all Union 
armies in both the East and the West. He gave his personal 
attention to the Army of the Potomac, but directed the move- 
ments of all the Federal forces. The greatest Union com- 
mander and the greatest Confederate commander wore now to 



Campaigns 475 

face each other for the final struggle. In considering this final 
struggle, it should be remembered that the South was about 
exhausted in military supplies, in money, and in soldiers. Dur- 
ing the Eastern Campaign of 18G4-1865 the Army of the 
Potomac under Grant was always nearly twice as large as the 
Army of Northern Virginia under Lee. But in this connection 
it should also be remembered that the Union army was com- 
pelled to attack the Confederate army in fortified positions, 
which gave the Confederate force a great advantage. An army 
fighting behind fortifications need not be nearly as large as an 
army making an attack. 

(a) The War in the West and South. — Grant's military 
plans for 1864 included two general lines of work. He was to 
march south from the Potomac, defeat Lee, and capture Rich- 
mond. Sherman with the western army was to proceed south 
from eastern Tennessee, capture Atlanta, and from there march 
through the Confederacy to the Atlantic. On May 4, 18()4, 
Sherman began his march on Atlanta. He had under his com- 
mand about one hundred thousand as good soldiers as ever went 
into battle. Opposed to him was a Confederate army of about 
seventy-five thousand, under the command of Joseph E. John- 
ston, who was one of the ablest southern commanders. 
Johnston had built strong fortifications between the southern 
boundary of Tennessee and Atlanta ; but Sherman, instead of 
attacking the Confederate army in these fortifications, marched 
around them and thus compelled Johnston to retreat from one 
fortification to another. Although Johnston was conducting 
the retreat in a very able manner, the Confederate government 
removed him before Sherman reached Atlanta, and placed 
Hood in command of the Confederate army. Hood attacked 
Sherman several times, but was defeated with heavv loss. He 
then moved north in the hope that Sherman would follow him 
and thus give up his advance through Georgia. Instead of 
doing this, Sherman put Thomas in command of a portion of 
his army, with directions to look after Hood. Thomas was 
compelled to retire to Nashville, Tennessee, and intrench his 
army at that place ; but he gradually secured more soldiers and 
at last felt prepared to meet Hood. He left his fortification on 



47^ The American Civil War 

December 15 and attacked the Confederate army. In a two 
days' battle he won a complete victory. Hood's army was 
never organized again as an army. 

After destroying the valuable military supplies at Atlanta, 
and the manufactories in which they were made, Sherman be- 
gan his "March to the Sea." His army of about sixty thou- 
sand men swept over a strip of country about sixty miles wide. 
On this march the Union soldiers destroyed die railroad and all 
military supplies, and lived by foraging. Sherman reached the 
coast in the early part of December and entered the city of 
Savannah, Georgia, on the 20th. After resting his soldiers for 
about a month, he marched north and occupied Columbia, the 
capital of South Carolina. From there he continued into 
North Carolina, where he was at the close of the war. Sher- 
man's march through the heart of the Confederacy did a great 
deal to convince the southern people that they could not succeed 
in the war. and tended to create opposition to the Confederate 
government. 

(b) The War in Vivf^inia; Lee's Surrender of Appomattox. — 
On the same day that Sherman began his march toward At- 
lanta, Grant began his march toward Richmond. The Army 
of the Potomac numbered about one hundred and twenty thou- 
sand, and the Army of Northern A^irginia between sixty and 
eighty thousand. By June 12 the Union army had reached the 
James River, but since starting south, on May 4, it had lost 
about fifty-five thousand men, or nearly as many as were in 
Lee's entire army. The Confederate loss was much smaller, 
which was due to the fact that the Confederates were on the 
defensive and fought behind intrenchments. From May 4 to 
May 12 the fighting had been almost continuous. Grant, un- 
able to break through Lee's intrenched lines, was forced each 
time to march by his flank. Lee kept falling back, and kept his 
army between Grant and Richmonfl. 

At last Grant gave up all hope of capturing Richmond or of 
destroying Lee's army by direct advance. On June 12 he be- 
gan to transfer his army across the James River, and at once 
began a regular siege of Petersburg and Richmond. In order 
to stop this siege, Lee sent General Early with about seventeen 



Campaigns 



477 



thousand men to threaten an attack on the city of Washin^^ton. 
Early came within sight of the national capital, and had he not 
hesitated before the defenses of the city, he might have cap- 
tured it. Grant had hurried soldiers north, and soon the city 
was safe. Sheridan was placed in command of these troops, 
and after a series of battles succeeded in driving- the Confed- 
erates out of the Shenandoah X^alley. He destroyed every- 
thing in this valley on which an army could live, and thereafter 










' 'fc '- 1. 



The McLean House^ Appomattox 
In this house the articles of surrender were drawn up 

no Confederate army threatened the city of Washington. 
Meanwhile the Union forces continued to press the siege of 
Petersburg and Richmond. All through the winter and spring 
Grant drew his lines closer and closer around these pl'aces, and 
lost many soldiers in assaulting their defenses. At last Lee 
was forced to abandon Richmond. He attempted to escape 
westward, but a division of the Union army under Sheridan 
barred his way. This convinced him that further resistance 
was useless. 



47^ The American Civil War 

On April 9, 18G5, Lee surrendered the Amiy of Xorthern 
\'irginia to Grant at Appomattox Court House, a little place 
about seventy miles west of Richmond. General Lee and all 
his commanders and soldiers were pemiitted to jjo to their 
homes, and those who had horses and side arms were pennitted 
to keep them. The Union soldiers did not cheer or do anv- 
thins^ to humiliate their heroic foes. The magnificent record 
which the Army of Xorthern \'irginia had made, and the 
honest belief of its soldiers that they were fighting for their 
rights, fully entitled the Confederates to this generous treat- 
ment. The surrender of Lee marked the end of the Civil War. 
although some of the Confederate armies did not surrender 
until a little later. The L'nion armies.' which at this time con- 
sisted of almost one million men, were soon disbanded. This 
vast number of soldiers returned to their homes and were soon 
engaged again in various occupations. 

THE WORK OF THE XAVY 

244. Blockade of Southern Ports: (a) Xcccssity for Block- 
ade. — As there were not many manufactories in the South, the 
Confederacy was not able to manufacture enough military sup- 
plies for its armies or to supply the demand of the southern 
people for manufactured goods. All these could be secured 
from other nations, however, unless such trade was interfered 
with : for the sale of cotton, tobacco, and rice to Europe would 
have given the Confederate government and the Confederate 
people ample funds with which to purchase such goods and 
material. President Lincoln saw clearly at the beginning of 
the war the great injury to the Confederacy that would result 
if her ports could be blockaded so that she could not carry on 
any trade with the countries of Europe. 

(b) Dime III tics of Blockade. — On April 10. 1^(M, five days 
after Fort Sumter surrendered. President Lincoln issued a 
proclamation in which he declared a blockade of all the Con- 
federate ports : and later, when \'irginia and Xorth Carolina 
seceded, their ports were included in this blockade. But 
proclamations could not prevent the Confederacy from trading 
with Europe. In order to do this it was absolutely necessary 



The Work of the Navy 479 

for Union vessels actually to blockade the southern ports, and 
to capture or destroy those vessels that might attempt to trade 
with the Confederacy. As the coast of the Confederacy was 
about thirty-five hundred miles long, this was a very difficult 
thing to do, and would require a large number of vessels. 
When Lincoln issued his blockading proclamation, the United 
States government had at its command about twentv-four 
vessels in active service, none of which were of much value. 
These vessels would be of practically no use in so great and 
important a work as the blockading of the southern ports. 

(c) Rapid Groii'th of Federal Xavy; its Effective JVork. — 
To -meet this condition, the national government built and 
equipped a navy with great rapidity. At the close of the war 
the navy of the United States contained nearly seven hundred 
vessels and more than fifty thousand seamen. By the close of 
the year 1861 the blockade was fairly well effective, and as the 
war progressed it became more and more effective. This work 
of the navy in shutting out supplies from the South greatly in- 
jured the Confe<leracy and hastened the end of the war. The 
navy was also of great value in directly aiding the Union armies 
on land. This has already been seen in its capture of New 
Orleans, and in the assistance which it rendered Grant on the 
Mississippi. As it was almost impossible to guard completely 
the entire coast line of the Confederacy, many vessels, known 
as blockade runners, would slip past the Union vessels in the 
night and succeed in bringing supplies to the Confederates and 
in buying cotton and tobacco. During the war the Union 
vessels either captured or destroyed more than fifteen hundred 
of these blockade runners. 

245. Commerce Destroyers; Effect on Nation's Commerce; 
Geneva Award. — The Confederacy, of course, did what it could 
to injure the commerce and shipping of the North. In order to 
do this the Confederates built and equipped vessels that cap- 
tured or destro}-ed the merchant vessels that belonged to the 
northern people. They did not, however, interfere with vessels 
trading with the North unless they were sailing under the 
American flag. This was because the Confederacy did not 
have a navv, and could not therefore declare a blockade of the 



480 The American Civil War 

northern ports and forbid other nations to trade with the North. 
The Confederate vessels which were fitted out to attack the 
merchant ships of the North were called commerce destroyers. 
Of the numerous vessels of this kind, those which did the most 
damage to northern commerce were the Alabama, the Florida, 
and the Shenandoah. All of these vessels were either built or 
purchased in England, not only with the full knowledge of the 
English government, but in some cases with the actual con- 
nivance of that government. 

In 1872 a board of arbitration, to which this question had 
been submitted, decided that England should pay to the United 
States the sum of fifteen and one-half million dollars on ac- 
count of the injury done to American commerce during the war 
by the Confederate commerce destroyers which had been fitted 
out in English ports. This settlement is known as the Geneva 
Award. The fifteen and one-half million dollars, however, did 
in no wise pay for the injury which these vessels did to the 
American shipping industry. Their destruction of more than 
two hundred and fifty northern merchant vessels was not the 
real injury which they inllictcd on the shipping industry of the 
nation. As has already been stated, the shipping industry of 
the United States in 18(^0 was larger than that of any other 
nation. The fear that southern commerce destroyers would 
capture their merchant vessels caused the northern people to 
sell, during the war, nearly half of their ships. The shipping 
industrv of the Ignited States has never recovered from this. 

246. Revolution in Naval Warfare. — \\'hen Mrginia se- 
ceded, the commander in charge of the United States navy 
yard at Norfolk, at the mouth of the James River in \'irginia, 
sank the I'nion vessels so as to prevent them from falling into 
the hands of the Confederates. One of those sunk was called 
the Mcrrimac. The Confederates raised this vessel, covered it 
with a double plating of iron, and called it the Jlrginia. All 
the war ships in the world at that time were built of wood, 
although several iron-covered vessels were then being built in 
England and France. While the Merrimac was being remod- 
eled, another small iron vessel was being built in New York 
by John Ericsson. This vessel was called the Monitor. It 



The Work of the Navy 



481 



was covered heavily with iron, and its deck was scarcely above 
the water. In the middle of this vessel was a round tvirret 
which contained two large guns and which could be revolved 
slowly by machinery that was placed below the deck. At the 
time the Virginia was completed there were a number of Union 
war vessels in Hampton Roads at the mouth of the James 
River. Just south of these vessels, in the little arm of water 
that leads to the old Union navy yard at Norfolk, was the 
Virgi)iia. On March 8, 18G2, this vessel steamed out and at- 






The Fight between the Monitor and the Mcrrimac 

tacked the Union ships. The Cnnihcrland, which was a pow- 
erful man-of-war, was sunk by the Virginia, and the Congress 
was compelled to surrender. Union guns were unable to in- 
jure the iron sides of the Virginia. She steamed back to the 
Confederate fort with the intention of continuing the destruc- 
tion of the Union fleet next morning. The news of this battle 
was telegraphed to the national government and to the people 
of the North. The destruction of the two Union vessels caused 
great excitement, because it looked as though this new Con- 
federate vessel could destroy the entire Union navy. Fortu- 
natelv for the North, the iron Monitor arrived from New York 



34 



482 The American Civil War 

(luring the night. In the battle which took place the next day 
neither vessel was able to inflict much injury on the other. 

This battle between two iron ships was perhaps the most 
important single event of the war, because it proved that a 
few ironclads could destroy the largest wooden navy afloat. A 
complete revolution in naval construction now took place, and 
the wooden war vessels of the world were rapidly supplanted 
by iron-protected fighting machines. 

GENERAL RESULTS OF THE WAR 

247. The Main Results of the War were the destruction of 
slavery ; the great industrial dcvclo]:)nicnt of the South which 
the destruction of slaverv made possible; the enfranchisement 
of the negro, and the race prol)lcm — not yet settled — which this 
enfranchisement created. Since the war the industrial develop- 
ment of the South has been extremely rapid. Iron and coal 
fields second to none in the world have been discovered. The 
production of cotton has vastly increased, and manufacturing 
establishments of every kind have been springing into exist- 
ence. Another important result of the war has been the unifi- 
cation of the nation. Sectional feeling has almost disappeared 
because slavery, its cause, has been removed. It is (inly those 
men who were not brave enough to enter the Civil War, or 
who would not have been brave enough to enter that war had 
they lived then, who still try to keep alive the bitter feeling 
which existed at that time. Old Union soldiers and old Con- 
federate soldiers meet from year to year upon the battlefields of 
the Civil War, and talk about the stirring events of that time 
in the most friendly spirit and with the most friendly feeling. 
During the Spanish- American War old Confederate soldiers 
fought side by side with old Union soldiers who had opposed 
them on many a bloody battlefield of the Civil War. The 
southern people are as loyal and patriotic in their support of the 
Stars and Stripes as are the people of any other part of the 
countrv. 



Questions and Topics 483 

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 

RESOURCES OF THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH 

Questions for Class Recitations 

(In connection with the questions on the Civil War, each pupil 
should read the fourth number of Hart's "Source Readers in Amer- 
ican History." See "Explanatory and Suggestive," page ix.) Ex- 
plain briefly how the difference in the topography, climate, and 
soil of the North and South was the main or fundamental cause of 
the American Civil War. Beginning with the Missouri Compro- 
mise, explain briefly the political events which led directly to this 
war. Explain carefully how the South in two respects had an 
advantage of the North at the beginning of the Civil War. After 
the war began, why was the North able to secure ample military 
and other supplies, and why was the South unable to do so? Com- 
pare the Union states with the Confederate states in regard to 
population, and explain the causes of this difference. In what way 
was the difference, in population of advantage to the North? Com- 
pare the North and the South in regard to means of transportation, 
and explain how the difference between the two sections in this 
respect affected the result of the Civil War. Discuss the financial 
resources of the North and South during the war, and explain how 
the difference between the two sections in this respect affected the 
result of the war. Discuss the industrial resources of the North 
and South, and explain how the difference between the two sections 
in this respect affected the result of the war. Explain the general 
effect on the result of the war of the difference between the gen- 
eral resources of the North and South. 

SECESSION AND BEGINNINGS 

QUE.STI0NS FOR ClASS RECITATIONS 

Explain the two views which had been held regarding the right 
of secession. What is your opinion on this question? Explain very 
carefully those principles of the Constitution which indicate that no 
state had the legal or constitutional right to secede. Explain what 
is meant by the natural right of a person to defend and protect his 
life and liberty. Assuming that no state could secede or withdraw 
from the Union in accordance with the Constitution, by what right 
can the secession of the southern states be justified? What did the 
southern people believe the North wished to do in regard to their 



484 



The American Civil War 



rights and liberties? Explain how tliis belief would justify the 
action of the southern people in regard to the war. Explain why 
the admission of California to the Union as a free state and the 
result of the struggle in Kansas made the southern leaders anxious 
to withdraw from the Union. Why did the southern leaders decide 
to bring about secession when Lincoln was elected President? 
Discuss the secession of the southern states and the formation of 
the Confederate States of America. 

What was the attitude of the Confederacy toward the national 
property within its borders? What was Lincoln's attitude toward 
this property? What was his attitude as to the legal right of a 
state to secede? What did he declare his policy would be on these 
questions? Why was the Confederacy bound to oppose his policy? 
Why were these two views sure to lead to war? Describe the fall 
of Fort Sumter. What effect did the fall of this fort have on Lin- 
coln and on the people of the North? Explain the effect Lincoln's 
call for soldiers had on the people of the Confederacy and on the 
people of some of those slave states which had not seceded. De- 
scribe the battle of Bull "Run. What efifect did this battle have on 
the national government? What effect did it have on the people 
of the North? What effect did it have on the people of the Con- 
federacy? 

CAMPAIGNS 

Questions for Class Recitations 

Why cannot the campaigns of the Civil War be discussed very 
fully in a history of the United States for school use? What larger 
history will you be able to read on the battles and campaigns of 
the Civil War? 

What was the general object of the national government in the 
war? What armies did it organize? What work in the war was 
assigned to each of these armies? What was the general object 
of the Confederacy in this war? What armies did it organize? 
What work were these armies expected to do? In what respect did 
the Army of Northern Virginia differ from the other armies? De- 
scribe the character and ability of General Lee. What will each 
of the campaigns outlined in this history include? 

Give a rather full discussion of the first advance on Richmond. 
(Discussing a battle as used in these questions means to state the 
conditions or circumstances that led to the battle, describe the 
battle, state the results, and give the importance of these results.) 
Discuss the battles of Bull Run. Antietam, and Fredericksburg. 
Give a careful explanation of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. 
Explain the proclamation which he issued regarding slavery, on 



Questions and Topics 485 

January I, 1863. Explain carefully just how and to what extent 
these proclamations affected slavery. Why did Lincoln free the 
slaves in the Confederacy? In what way did this affect the war? 
Explain Lincoln's plans regarding slavery in the loyal free states, 
and state with what success it met. Discuss the battles of Chan- 
cellorsville and Gettysburg. Why was the battle of Gettysburg a 
serious defeat for the Confederacy? Discuss the general results 
of the Eastern Campaign. Why was the Army of the Potomac 
not more successful in accomplishing what it was expected to ac- 
complish? (At this point each pupil should draw a map that will 
give a clear and complete idea of the Eastern Campaign.) 

Describe the character and ability of General Grant. Describe 
the character and ability of General Sherman. What can j^ou say 
about Thomas, Sheridan, and other Union commanders of the 
West? Why was it important for the Union armies to capture 
Fort Henry and Fort Donelson? Describe the capture of these 
two forts. Discuss the battle of Pittsburg Landing. What other 
cities did the Union army capture soon after this battle? Why was 
it valuable for the national government to secure possession of 
New Orleans? Give a rather full discussion of the capture of this 
city. Discuss the battles of Perryville and Murfreesboro. Com- 
pare carefully tke result of the Western Campaign for 1862 with 
the result of the Eastern Campaign for this same year. Discuss 
the capture of Vicksburg. Discuss the battles of Chickamauga and 
Chattanooga. Compare carefully the result of the campaign in 
the West for the year 1863 with the result of the campaign in the 
East of that year. Explain what effect the Western Campaign had 
on the reputation of Grant and his position in the army. In con- 
sidering the contest between Grant and Lee in the East, what con- 
ditions should receive careful consideration? (At this point each 
pupil should draw a map giving a clear and complete idea of the 
Western Campaign.) 

What were Grant's plans for the war after he became Com- 
mander in Chief? Discuss the capture of Atlanta. Discuss the 
contest between Thomas and Hood. Discuss Sherman's "March 
to the Sea." What did Sherman do after hz had captured 
Savannah? Give a careful discussion of Grant's campaign in the 
East from May 4 to June 12, 1864. What did Grant do after he 
decided that he could not capture Richmond by direct advance? 
What was the result of Lee's attempt to draw Grant away frorn 
the siege at Petersburg and Richmond? Describe the siege of 
Petersburg and Richmond. Discuss the surrender of the Army 
of Northern Virginia. (At this point each pupil should draw a map 
giving a clear and complete idea of the campaigns of 1864-1865.) 



486 



The American Civil War 



THE WORK OF THE NAVY 



Questions for Class Recitations 

Explain why the Confederacy could not supply enough war ma- 
terial for its armies and manufactured goods for its people. Ex- 
plain fully why the national government was so very anxious to 
blockade the Confederate ports. What was absolutely necessary 
in order to blockade these ports? Describe the condition of the 
American navy at the beginning of the Civil War. Describe its 
condition at the end of that war. To what extent was the North 
successful in blockading the Confederate ports? Explain how this 
hastened the end of the war. Explain in what way the navy gave 
direct assistance to the Union army in its land campaigns. 

What is a commerce destroyer? What was the object of the 
Confederates in building and equipping these vessels? Why did 
the English government permit these vessels to be built in Eng- 
land? Discuss the Geneva Award. Explain in what way these 
Confederate commerce destroyers did a great injury to the Amer- 
ican shipping industry in addition to the value of the ships which 
they actually destroyed. Describe the Virginia (Merrimac) and 
the Monitor. What was the result of the first day's work of the 
Virginia? What effect did this have on the national government 
and on the people of the North? Describe the battle between the 
Virginia and the Monitor. What was the eflfect of this battle on 
the future construction of war vessels? 

RESULTS 

Questions for Class Recitations 

State and explain some of the main results of the Civil War. Ex- 
plain wliy the war tended to unify the nation. Give some illustra- 
tions that tend to prove this. 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Give a careful comparison and discussion of the resources of the 
Union and Confederate states. Discuss secession and the right of 
secession. Discuss the fall of Fort Sumter and the first battle of 
Bull Run. Discuss the scope and nature of the campaigns of the 
Civil War. Give a full discussion of the Eastern Campaign. Give 
a full discussion of the Western Campaign. Give a full discussion 
of the campaign of 1864-1865. Discuss the work of the navy in the 
Civil War. Discuss the results of the war. 



RECONSTRUCTION, DEVELOP- 
MENT, AND EXPANSION 



RECESSIONAL 

God of our fathers, known of old — 
Lord of our far-flung battle line — 

Beneath Whose awful Hand we hold 
Dominion over palm and pine — 

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, 
Lest we forget — lest we forget! 

The tumult and the shouting dies — 
The captains and the kings depart, 

Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice. 
An humble and a contrite heart. 

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet. 
Lest we forget — lest we forget! 

Far-called our navies melt awaj' — 

On dune and headland sinks the fire — 

Lo, all our pomp of j-esterdaj' 
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre! 

Judge of the nations, spare us yet. 
Lest we forget — lest we forget! 

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose 

Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe- 
Such boasting as the Gentiles use, 

Or lesser breeds without the Law — 
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet. 
Lest we forget — lest we forget! 

For heathen heart that puts her trust 
In reeking tube and iron shard — 

All valiant dust that builds on dust, 

And guarding calls not Thee to guard — 

For frantic boasts and foolish word. 
Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord! 

Amen. 



-Kipling 



RECONSTRUCTION, DEVELOP- 
MENT, AND EXPANSION 

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES 

I. Relation of the Confederate States to the National Govern- 
ment 

II. The Death of Lincoln: his Character and Ability 

IIJ. The Reconstruction Policy of Johnson 

IV. The Reconstruction Policy of Congress 

V. Some Results of Reconstruction 

POLITICAL METHODS AND POLITICAL PARTIES 

I. Political Methods 
II. Political Parties 

FINANCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL LEGISLATION 

I. Financial Legislation 

1. The National Debt and the National Bank System 

2. Resumption of Specie Paj^ment 

3. Gold and Silver Standards 

II. Tariff Legislation 

III. Industrial Combinations 

1. Corporations, Trusts, and Labor Organizations 

2. Laws relating to Corporations, Trusts, and Other Com- 

binations 

FOREIGN RELATIONS 

I. Purchase of Alaska 
II. Treaty of Washington 
III. Application of the INIonroe Doctrine 

487 



488 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 



IV. Growth of Arbitration 

V. The Spanish-American War 

1. Causes 

2. Campaigns 

3. Results 

VT. The Isthmian Canal 



INSTITUTIONAL LIFE 

I. Industrial Conditions 

1. Improvement in the Means of Transportation and Com- 

munication 

2. Other Inventions and Discoveries 

3. Development of Mineral Resources, and of Agriculture 

and Manufacturing 

4. Commerce, Population, and Cities 

5. The New South 

6. The Development of the West 

II. Social Conditions 

III. Education 

1. Nature of Development 

2. The Public Elementary School System 

3. The Public High School System 

4. Colleges, Universities, and Special Schools 



7 

Reconstruction of the Confederate States 489 



RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES 

248. Relation of Confederate States to National Govern- 
ment: (a) Various I'iczi's. — At the end of the Civil War the 
government of the Confederacy and the state government of 
each Confederate state was completely broken up. The na- 
tional government was now confronted with the very serious 
problem of restoring those states which had composed the 
Confederacy to their proper political and constitutional relation 
to the Union. In order to do this it was necessary first to 
determine into just what relation to the national government 
th-ey had been placed by secession. Some maintained that se- 
cession had reduced them to the condition of territories, and 
that Congress could manage these territories as it pleased. 
Others maintained that the Confederate states had not lost their 
statehood, but only their constitutional rights as states, and that 
Congress could restore these rights in such manner as it might 
think best. 

Lincoln had always held that a state could not legally secede, 
and that the Confederate States therefore were never legally 
out of the Union. He did not, however, believe this question 
worth considering as a basis for getting the seceded states back 
into the Union, He mantained that the act of secession had 
simply put these states out of their proper relation to the 
national government, and his object and purpose were to get 
them back into their proper relation as soon as possible and as 
quietly as possible. The Constitution gives the President the 
right to pardon those who have committed offenses against the 
United States. Lincoln believed that this power gave him the 
right to pardon those who had seceded, and that the people in 
a seceded state who had been pardoned could form a state gov- 
ernment, and that each state would then be restored to its 
proper relation to the national government — or reconstructed, 
as it was called. 

(b) Amnesty Proclamation. — Acting upon this theory of 
reconstruction, Lincoln issued a proclamation in December, 
1863, in which, with some exceptions, he promised pardon to 
all those who would lay down their arms and take an oath to 



490 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 

support the Constitution and all laws and proclamations which 
had been made concerning the freeing of slaves. He promised 
in this proclamation that a seceded state would be permitted to 
form a new state government as soon as the number of resident 
voters taking this oath in such state was one tenth as largo as 
the number that had voted in that state in 1860, and that such 
state would then be given full recognition by the national gov- 
ernment. Before the end of the war, Tennessee, Arkansas, 
and Louisiana had formed new state governments in accord- 
ance with this proclamation. On April 11, two days after the 
surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia,^ Lincoln in an 
address indicated plainly that he intended to adopt the same 
liberal policy in regard to the reconstruction of the other Con- 
federate states. But he was never to carry out this policy. 

249. Death of Lincoln: (a) His Assassination. — Amid the 
thankful rejoicing of the northern people over the end of the 
war, and in the midst of his own glad thankfulness that the 
Union had been preserved, Lincoln was killed. He was shot 
about ten o'clock in the evening while attending Ford's Theater 
in Washington, and died a little after seven o'clock the next 
morning. The 14tli of April was the day on which he was 
shot — just four years from that 14th of April on which Fort 
Sumter surrendered, and just four days from the day on which 
the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered. An actor by the 
name of John Wilkes Booth committed the murder. Booth 
was a half-crazy Confederate sympathizer. The murder of 
Lincoln was a part of a conspiracy to murder a number of the 
leading men of the nation ; but the only other one attacked was 
Seward, who at the time was confined to his bed by an injury 
sustained in an accident. Seward was not killed by the attack, 
but he was badly injured. Booth was shot and killed while 
resisting arrest, and nearly all those who had helped him plan 
the murder were either hanged or imprisoned. The Confed- 
eracy and southern people had nothing to do with this con- 
spiracy. 

(b) Tributes to Lincoln; his Feeling toward the South. — 
The death of Lincoln plunged the northern people from glad 
thanksgiving into the deepest sorrow. The news of his death 



Reconstruclion of the Confederate States 49 1 

profoundly moved the entire civilized world, for his great 
character, kind heart, and magnificent work had at last hushed 
all criticism and won the admiration and deep respect of almost 
every thinking man and woman in Europe. From every civil- 
ized nation came messages of genuine sorrow. While Lincoln's 
death was a great loss to the entire nation, it was an especially 
great loss to the South. He had no feeling of anger whatever 
toward the people of the Confederacy. On the contrary, he in- 
tended to help them in every way possible to recover from the 
effects of the war and to adapt themselves to the new conditions. 
He was the only man with power to control the radicals of the 
North and prevent the bad conditions brought about in the 
South by the policy of reconstruction finally adopted. He had 
won the complete confidence of the northern people, who would 
have indorsed his kind and liberal policy in dealing with the 
unusual situation brought about by secession. Even the south- 
ern people were already coming to look upon him as their best 
friend. This was perhaps the greatest tribute paid to his 
nature, character, and ability. 

(c) Character and Rank of Lincoln. — In some respects 
Lincoln was the greatest man that ever entered public life in 
America. He was born and raised in a log cabin. Because 
his parents were too poor to provide better light, he was often 
compelled to study by the light of the fireplace. During his 
entire life he did not attend school more than twelve months 
all together, yet some of his speeches and public papers will 
always rank as splendid examples of clear, pure, and elegant 
English. No President of the LTnited States ever had to deal 
with conditions that were as difficult as were those which con- 
fronted him. His common sense, sound judgment, and great 
ability enabled him to handle and control men during the 
intense excitement which existed at critical moments in the 
struggle of the nation for existence. With this great ability 
was a nature that was extremely kind and sympathetic even 
toward those opposed to him. Throughout the war he believed 
and said that the southern people were so sincere in the belief 
that they were fighting for the right, that he and they prayed 
to the same God for success. 



492 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 



250. The Reconstruction Policy of Johnson: (a) His Atti- 
tude toivard the Sccciicd States. — When Lincoln died, Vice 
President Johnson became President. He decided to carry out 
Lincohi's poHcy of reconstruction, with but shght modifica- 
tion. As Cong^ress was not in session during the summer and 
fall of 18()o, he could proceed with the reconstruction of the 
seceded states without any interference from that department 

of the national fjovernment. 
On May 39, 18(55. he issued 
a proclamation in which he 
stated the conditions on 
which the seceded states 
might form state j^overn- 
mcnts and be readmitted to 
the Union. This proclama- 
tion was very much like the 
one Lincoln had issued on 
the same subject, but it dif- 
fered in some important 
respects. In order to pre- 
vent those who were large 
slaveholders before the war 
from taking active part in 
the work of reconstruction, 
the proclamation provided 
that no one who owned property worth more than twenty 
thousand dollars could take the oath prescribed. The procla- 
mation also required the states to ratify the Thirteenth Amend- 
ment to the Constitution before they would be considered fully 
reconstructed. Congress submitted this amendment to the states 
in February, ISO"). During the year it was ratified by the 
required number of states, and became a part of the Constitu- 
tion in December of the same year. This amendiuent abolished 
slavery in all the states and in all the territories which belonged 
to the United States. The seceded states all ratified this 
amendment and complied with all the other conditions required 
in Johnson's proclamation. When Congress met in 1865, every 
one of these states had been reconstructed. 




Andrew Johnson 



Reconstruction of the Confederate States 493 

(b) Southern Laws for the Regulation of the Frecdmcn. 
— But by that time some things had taken place in the South 
that had created in the North a strong opposition to President 
Johnson's poHcy of reconstruction. Many of the new legisla- 
tures in the reconstructed states had passed laws which had 
created a very bad impression in the North. How to manage 
the large negro population which had just secured freedom 
was a most difficult question. The ex-slaves as a rule were 
ignorant and superstitious. They had been accustomed to 
depend on their masters for help as a child depends on its 
parents for protection and assistance. Their sudden freedom 
left many of them as helpless as children. If permitted to 
remain idle and roam over the country, they might become a 
positive danger to southern society. The new legislatures of 
the reconstructed states were compelled to face this dangerous 
situation and solve it in one way or another. It was perfectly 
absurd to suppose that in a few days, or in a few months, or 
even in a few years, the ignorant ex-slave could become, an 
intelligent citizen with the ability to take care of himself. Some 
special laws regarding the large negro population seemed to 
the southern legislatures absolutely necessary for the protection 
of southern society. Acting on this belief, most of these legis- 
latures passed laws which practically compelled the negro to 
work, and restricted his freedom in many ways. Some of 
these laws, however, indicated apparently that the southern 
states intended to keep the negro in a condition of semi-slavery ; 
but the southern people maintained that this was necessary 
until the ex-slaves should become intelligent and better able 
to take care of themselves. In the North, where the negro 
question as it existed in the South was not well understood, 
these southern laws regarding the negroes were viewed with 
gi'ave suspicion. All through the summer and fall of ISfiS the 
northern people became more and more convinced that the new 
legislatures of the reconstructed states were trying to annul 
the result of the war by virtually re-enslaving the negroes. 
They thought that the reconstruction policy of Johnson was 
largely responsible for this. The new Congress which met in 
December represented this opinion, and it at once began to 



494 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 

undo the work of reconstruction which Johnson had accoin- 
phshed. 

251. Reconstruction of Congress: (a) The Freedmen's 
Bureau. — When Conj^^rcss met it refused to recognize the 
senators and representatives who had been elected by the recon- 
structed states. This gave those who were opposed to John- 
son's pohcy a large majority in both the Senate and the House 
of Representatives. In March, ISnr), Congress established an 
office or bureau, called the Freedmen's Bureau. It was the 
duty of this bureau to look after and help negroes who had 
become free. The new Congress which met in December. 
18(55, enlarged the powers of the officers of this bureau so 
that they could interfere with the enforcement of the laws 
which the southern legislatures had passed for the control of 
the negroes. Johnson vetoed the bills which granted extra 
powers, but Congress passed them over his veto. 

(b) The Fourteenth Amendment. — Soon after it had 
enacted the laws which enlarged the powers of the Freedmen's 
Bureau, Congress prepared the Fourteenth Amendment to the 
Constitution, and submitted it to the several states for their 
approval. This amendment contains several important pro- 
visions. The first section makes the negro a citizen and forbids 
any state to make any special law against him, such as the 
legislatures of the reconstructed states had passed. During 
the summer and fall of 18G6 every one of those states which 
had seceded, except Tennessee, refused to ratify this amend- 
ment, and as their refusal prevented it from securing the 
approval of the required number of states, it was not adopted. 
At the November election the people of the North stronglv 
approved the reconstruction policy of Congress bv electing a 
still larger number of radical Republicans to the House of 
Representatives. 

(c) The Reconstruction Acts. — The rejection of the Four- 
teenth Amendment by the southern states caused Congress 
at its next meeting to take stronger measures than ever against 
those states. In the spring of 1807 it passed a series of acts 
which are known as the Reconstruction Acts. One act divided 
those states which had formed the Confederacy, except Ten- 



Reconstruction of the Confederate States 495 

nessee, into five military districts, and placed each district under 
the command and control of an army officer. Another act j^ave 
the negro the right to vote hut prevented many of the southern 
whites from voting. It was the duty of the army officer in each 
military district to enforce these acts. Each state was required 
to frame and adopt a constitution that would guarantee the 
negro the right to vote. The election of a legislature as pro- 
vided for in this new constitution was also required. The legis- 
lature thus elected was then to adopt the Fourteenth Amend- 
ment. Any seceded state that refused or neglected to do all 
these things would not be permitted to exercise and enjoy the 
rights of a state. All the states affected by these acts, except 
Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas complied with these 
conditions. In June, 18(58, Congress declared all those states 
which had so complied fully reconstructed and entitled to all 
the rights of states. In July the Fourteenth Amendment was 
declared a part of the Constitution. 

(d) TJic Fifteenth Ainenduicnt. — In February, 18n9, Con- 
gress proposed the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, 
and submitted it to the states. The states of Virginia, Georgia, 
Mississippi, and Texas were now required to ratify this amend- 
ment in addition to complying with all the conditions in the 
Reconstruction Acts. The Fifteenth Amendment gave the 
negro the right to vote, by declaring that "The right of citizens 
of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by 
the United States or by any state on account of race,. color, or 
previous condition of servitude." This amendment became a 
part of the Constitution in 1870, and by 1871 Virginia, Georgia. 
Mississippi, and Texas had all ratified it,' and thus the political 
reconstruction of the South was completed. 

252. Some Results of Reconstruction: (a) Impeachment 
of the President. — One result of reconstruction was the im- 
peachment of President Johnson. The feeling between the 
President and Congress was bitter. Johnson vetoed nearly all 
the acts of reconstruction, but Congress passed them over his 
veto. Stanton, who was Secretary of War under Lincoln, was 
strongly opposed to Johnson and his policy of reconstruction. 
Johnson determined to remove him from office because of this 
35 



49^ Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 

opposition. In order to prevent this, Con<^ress passed a law — 
called the Tenure of Office Act — which made it necessary for 
the President to get the consent of the Senate to remove an 
officer whose appointment it was necessary for the Senate to 
approve. Johnson tried to remove Stanton in spite of this law, 
as he considered it unconstitutional. For this the House of 
Representatives impeached the President, but the Senate by 
one vote failed to convict him. Thoughtful men consider 
Johnson's impeachment unfortunate, and believe that his con- 
viction would have established a bad precedent. 

(b) TJic Race Question. — President Johnson's impeach- 
ment was not the only unfortunate result of reconstruction. 
The reconstruction policy of Congress is responsible in a large 
measure for the existence to-day of the race question in the 
South. In those states which were placed under military rule 
by the Reconstruction Acts, the southern people for a while 
were ruled by their former slaves and by immigrants from the 
North. Some of these immigrants were^ excellent men ; but 
most of them were men of not very high character, and they 
came South for the express purpose of making money out of 
the unfortunate conditions which existed there. Under military 
rule they controlled the ignorant negro vote, and thereby con- 
trolled many of the state legislatures, and secured the passage 
of laws which robbed the southern people and enriched them- 
selves. All this naturally made the southern people feel bitter 
not only against these northern immigrants, who were called 
"Carpetbaggers," but toward the negro race also. This was 
the beginning of the active race question. The enfranchisement 
of the negro has helped to keep this question alive. 

It seems probable that the question of giving the negro the 
right to vote should have been left to each individual state. 
In ISC,") the people of Connecticut, Wisconsin, and Minnesota 
voted down the proposition to give the negroes in those states 
the right to vote, and in ISH? the people of Ohio and Kansas 
did the same thing. There were but few negroes in those 
states, and they were far better qualified to vote than were those 
in the South. In a republic like the United States, the safety 
of government depends upon the intelligence of the voter. To 



Political Methods and Political Parties 497 

s^ive the ballot to the millions of ignorant and half-civilized 
negroes of the South was inviting the destruction of southern 
society. It would have been better, perhaps, as stated above, 
to have left to each state the question as to when the negro 
was qualified to exercise the important right of the franchise. 

POLITICAL METHODS AND POLITICAL PARTIES 

253. Political Methods: (a) Australian Ballot System; 
Selection of Candidates for Office. — The most important 
changes which have taken place in political methods since the 
Civil War are the enactment of the Civil Service Laws and the 
adoption of the Australian ballot system throughout the United 
States. The Australian ballot system secures a secret vote — 
that is, this system of voting enables a voter to cast his ballot 
without any one knowing for whom he has voted. This is very 
important, because a secret ballot tends to prevent the buying 
of votes, and tends to prevent politics and personal influences 
from influencing voters in the selection of the candidates for 
whom they finally vote. The sacredness of the ballot cannot 
be watched and guarded too carefully. The success of repre- 
sentative government depends largely on an honest and intel- 
ligent ballot. The selection of candidates for office is of almost 
as great importance. If the candidates are not honest and 
men of ability, it does not make so very much difiference how 
carefully the ballot may be protected. It is the high duty of 
every person to take an active interest in the selection of the 
committees and conventions that control his political party and 
nominate his candidate for ofifice. 

(b) Ci-c'il Service Laws. — The enactment of these laws was 
another great advance in political matters. Under the Spoils 
System introduced into national politics during Jackson's 
administration, men were often appointed to federal positions 
because of their politics, and not because they were especially 
qualified to do the work of the offices to which they had been 
appointed. Ever since Jackson's administration many appoint- 
ments of this kind have been made, and it has resulted in great 
injury to the people, because their public work has not been 



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Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 4 

Relating to the public school system and the 
support of public schools. 


Senate Constitutional Amendment No. IS 

Relating to the division of the State into fish and 
game districts. 


Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 3 

Relating to the exemption from taxation of all 
bonds issued by the Stnti' of California, or by 
any county, city, city and county, town, mu- 
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Political Methods and Political Parties 499 



well done by the inefficient men who have been given these 
positions because they helped to elect the successful candidate. 
The object of the Civil Service Laws is to secure the appoint- 
ment of men to public office because of their ability, and not on 
account of their poli- 
tics. The first of these 
laws was passed in 
1871. In that year 
Congress passed a 
law known as the 
Civil Service Reform 
Act. This law gave 
the President the 
power to select a 
commission w h i c h 
should devise a better 
plan for the appoint- 
ment of men to all of- 
fices under his con- 
trol. Grant was anx- 
ious to enforce this 
law and Ijettcr the 

civil service : but the ^ n a , 

Chester A. Arthur 

members of Congress, 

desiring" the offices for political purposes, refused to vote money 
to carry out the reform. As a result, it proved of little value. 
In 1S83 Congress passed the "Pendleton Civil Service Act," 
giving the President the power to make appointments to certain 
offices by means of examination, and officers thus appointed 
could not be removed for political reasons. President Arthur 
placed a large number of offices under this civil service system, 
and President Cleveland increased the number. 

254. Political Parties. — With the exception of two admin- 
istrations, embracing eight years, the Republican party has 
had control of the national government ever since Lincoln took 
the oath of office as President on March 4, 18G1. During this 
time the Democratic party has always been a great and pow- 
erful party, has exerted a strong influence on n'iitional affairs. 




500 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 



and has twice elected a President. The Repubhcan Presidents 
during this period were Lincohi, 18G1-1SG5 ; Johnson, 18(io- 
1869; Grant, 1869-1877; Hayes, 1877-1881; Garfield, March 
4, 1881-September 19, 1881; Arthur, 1881-1885; Harrison, 
1889-1893; McKinley, 1897-Scptember 14, 1901; Roosevelt, 
1901-1905. Lincoln, Garfield, ar.d McKinley were assassinated 
while President. Lincoln died one month and eleven days 
after his second term opened ; Garfield served but six months 
and fifteen days in all ; and McKinley died six months and 
ten days after his second inauguration. Johnson served out 

Lincoln's second term ; Ar- 
tluir served out (jarfield's 
term ; and Roosevelt 
served out McKinlcy's sec- 
ond term and was then 
elected to succeed himself. 
The only Democratic Pres- 
ident since the be,f^inning 
of the Civil War was 
Cleveland, 1885-1889 and 
1893-1897. Immediately 
after the close of the war 
the chief political issue was 
the reconstruction of the 
seceded states. Since then 
the two main political is- 
sues between the Demo- 
cratic and Republican par- 
ties have been the money 
question and the tariff question, although, of course, there have 
been minor issues. The many industrial and social questions 
which have come to the front have given rise to a number of 
other political parties. Among these are the Populist or 
People's party, the Prohibition party, and the Socialist party, 
which at times have played more or less conspicuous parts in 
national affairs. 




James A. Garfield 



Financial and Industrial Legislation 



501 



FINANCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL LEGISLATION 

255. The National Debt and the National Bank System. — 

At the beginning of the Civil War the finances of the national 
government were in bad condition, the treasury being empty. 
The amount of money required for carrying on the war was 
much larger than the government had ever needed before. 
Toward the end of the war the expenses of the army and navy 




Copyright by C M. BcU 



Inauguration of a President 



Chief Justice Fuller iidniinisterlng the oath of office to President-elect 
McKlnley, March 4, 1897 



amounted to fully three million dollars per day. Much of this 
money was secured by high taxes, but. as already stated a large 
amount of it had to be secured by selling bonds and by issuing 
paper money and interest-bearing notes. At the end of the war 
the interest-bearing debt of the nation was more than two and 
a half billion dollars. Since then it has been reduced to less 
than one billion dollars. 



502 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 



One result of the sale of bonds was the creation of the 
national bank system. This system is entirely different from 
the United States Bank which Jackson destroyed. It was 
originated for the purpose of creating a market for the sale of 
United States bonds, in order that money might be secured to 
carry on the war. The law which established this system 
provided that not fewer than four persons, with a capital of 
not less than one hundred thousand dollars, might establish 
a national bank. They were required to invest a sum amount- 
ing to at least one tliird 
(if their capital in 
United States bonds, 
and the government 
would then give them 
bank notes, not exceed- 
ing ninety per cent of 
the par value of these 
l)onds. A tax levied by 
Congress on the notes 
of state banks caused 
most of these banks to 
become national banks, 
and thus the national 
government was able 
to sell large quantities 
of bonds. The national 
bank system as first 
established has been 
slightly modified and 
is to-dav an important feature of our financial system. 
256. Resumption of Specie Payments. — The government 
did not promise to redeem with gold and silver any of the five 
hundred million dollars of paper money it had issued during the 
war, and iA\ of it therefore continued in circulation. This 
paper money, together with the more than five hundred and 
fifty million dollars' worth of United States interest-bearing 
notes which had been issued, had caused nearly all the gold and 
silver money to disappear from circulation. In order to bring 




RlTllEKFllKU 1'.. Il.WES 



Financial and Industrial Legislation 503 



the finances of the country back to a gold and silver basis, 
Congress passed a law in 18G4 which provided that the Treasury 
Department should pay out gold and silver in return for paper 
money, all the paper money thus secured to be destroyed. 
W'idiin four years the amount of paper money had been reduced 
from nearly five hundred million dollars to three hundred and 
fifty-six million. The destruction of so much paper money 
caused a scarcity of money, and in response to the demand of 
the people, specie payment was discontinued in 18G8. In 1879, 
during President 
Hayes's administra- 
tion, it was resumed, 
and the finances of 
the country have ever 
since been on a hard 
money basis. 

257. Gold and Sil- 
ver Coinage Stand- 
ards. — Standard 
money is money that 
must be accepted in 
payment for all debts, 
and material out of 
which this money is 
made must be coined 

bv the United States 

Tv', . ^ ^- 11 J- Benjamin Harrison 

Mints practically free 

of charge for any one who takes the material to the mints and 
complies with the regulations. Until 1873 both gold and silver 
were standard moneys in the United States — that is, they were 
legal tender for the payment of all debts, and any one possess- 
ing either could have it coined into money. In 1873 the coinage 
of silver was partially discontinued, and in 1876 its coinage and 
use as a standard money were abolished. In 1878 it was again 
made a legal tender, but the amount the government could 
coin during each year was limited. The law providing for this 
is called the Bland Silver Bill. During Harrison's adminis- 
tration, in 1890, Congress passed what is known as the Sher- 




504 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 



man Act. This law directed the Secretary of the Treasury to 
buy about fifteen milHon dollars' worth of silver each year. 
After 1891 it was provided that the silver bought need not be 

coined, but silver cer- 
tificates for four mil- 
lion five h u n d r e d 
thousand ounces 
must be issued each 
month, and these re- 
deemed in gold and 
silver. In order to 
protect the gold re- 
serve in the L'nited 
v^tates Treasury, the 
v^hcrman Act was re- 
pealed in Cleveland's 
second administra- 
tion. In the spring 
of 1900 Congress 
passed a law which 
declared, in sub- 
stance, that the gold 
standard would be 
maintained in the 
United States. Since 
that time the United 
States has been on a 
gold standard basis. 
258. Tariff Legislation. — For about fifteen years before 
the Civil War, tariff duties in the United Slates were lower 
than they had been since 1816. During the war high tariff 
rates were levied in order to raise money to meet the expenses 
of the war and in order to protect manufacturing interests 
which were being heavily taxed. Since the war the tariff has 
remained strongly protective in nature. The W'ilson Bill, 
passed during Cleveland's second administration, modified the 
tariff in many respects, but it retained a large number of pro- 
tective features. During McKinley's administration a tariff 




\VlLLI.\.M .McKlNLEY 



Financial and Industrial Legislation 505 



with full protective features was restored, and is still in opera- 
tion. 

259. Industrial Combinations: (a) Corporations, Trusts, 
and Labor Organisations. — A corporation is an organization 
recognized by law, and empowered to transact a certain kind 
of business, as though it were one person. The wonderful 
industrial progress of the United States has made it possible 
for men to amass large fortunes. These fortunes, singly or 
in combinations, have been used for the purpose of building 




«r^Bli 



McKinley's Home at Canton, Ohio 

long railroad lines, developing large mining interests, and 
carrying on other great enterprises. Their owners have at 
times taken advantage of the great power which they possess 
to crush out smaller enterprises having less financial backing. 
A vast corporation often takes the place of many individual 
business concerns. For example, the Western Union Tele- 
graph Company was organized in 1880 out of forty small 
telegraph companies. Many lines of railroads have been com- 
bined into a few great systems. The Standard Oil Company 
and the United States Steel Corporation have taken the place 
of any number of smaller oil and steel companies. When great 
corporations were first organized, they were brought into sharp 



5o6 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 

competition with other corporations enp:ai::cd in the same hnes 
of business. The corporations soon learned, however, that it 
was to their atlvantas^e to form combinations, thus avoiding 
competition with one another. \'ast combinations or trusts 
have now been formed in ahuost every Hue of business. 

In order to protect themselves ac^ainst combinations of cap- 
ital, and to better their conditions, many of the laborinq- people 
of the country have combined at different times and under 
various names. Many of tiiese labor ori^anizations have united 
and formed state federations, and the state federations are 
rej^resented in what is known as the American Federation of 
Labor, which exercises general control over the organizations 
composing it. \\y their combined efforts, the labor organiza- 
tions have shortened the hours of labor, raised wages, and 
accom])lished many other things which, taken together with 
the natural advantages and great industrial development of the 
United States, have raised the condition of the American 
laborer above that of any other nation. 

260. Proper Regulation of Industrial Combinations. — This 
constitutes one of the greatest problems now before the Amer- 
ican jxH^ple for solution. These combinations are regarded by 
many thoughtful and intelligent people as necessary to our 
industrial devcloi)ment. Further, they are believed by man\- 
economists to be beneficial if wisely regulated so as not to 
infringe upon, or interfere with, the great principles of personal 
freedom and personal initiative in business which have made 
possible the great growth of the American nation. Freedom 
in business and industry, and fair, open, and honest industrial 
competition, are the principles that have brought prosperity, 
happiness, and comfort into millions of American homes, and 
they are the principles that make it possible for the very poorest 
boys and girls to achieve the greatest success. Many of the 
ablest men and women in the nation believe that it would be 
very unfortunate for the welfare of the American people if 
they should ever permit industrial combinations of any kind 
seriously to interfere with the free operation of these great 
principles of American growth. Already laws having for their 
object the control of various industrial combinations have been 



Foreign Relations 507 

passed by both the national and the state legislatures. Among 
such laws are the Interstate Commerce Act, passed by Congress 
in 1887, and the Railroad Rate Rill, passed in IDOG. These 
laws provide for the supervision of railroads by a national 
commission, whose duty it is to prevent unfair discrimination 
between shippers, and to prevent the organization of combina- 
tions which have for their purpose the destroying of compe- 
tition and the raising of prices. Among the laws passed in the 
interest of labor are the Contract Labor Law, wdiich prohibits 
any person in the L^nited States from importing foreign 
laborers under contract ; laws restricting Chinese immigration ; 
and laws making eight hours a full day's labor in certain kinds 
of government employment. In 1903 Congress created the new 
executive department of Commerce and Labor. Many states 
have passed laws regulating railway rates, and restricting the 
powers and defining the duties of corporations, trusts, and 
various other combinations. 

FOREIGN RELATIONS 

261. Purchase of Alaska.— Russia sold Alaska to the 
United vStates in 18 C7 for about seven million dollars. This 
territory contains about five hundred thousand square miles. 
At the time it was purchased it was thought to be valuable only 
for its furs, fisherieSj and lumber ; but large mineral deposits 
have since been discovered there. 

262. The Treaty of Washington. — During the Civil War 
the government of the Confederacy sent two commissioners to 
Europe for the purpose of inducing the leading nations of 
Europe to recognize the independence of the Confederacy. 
These commissioners embarked on the British vessel Trent. 
A war vessel of the United States stopped the Trent and seized 
the commissioners. This was a violation of international law, 
and the government of the United States released the com- 
missioners and disavowed the act of the American commander. 
Great Britain, however, sent troops to Canada and acted very 
much as though she would like to make trouble for the United 
States in order to assist the Confederacy. This created a rather 
strong feeling against Great Britain in the North, and this 



508 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 

feeling continued to exist after the war. When the war ended, 
there were a nuniher of chspntes hetween Great Britain and the 
United States that called for settlement, but the American 
government was not inclined to settle any of them until England 
would agree to consider the question of paying for the damage 
done to American merchant vessels by the Confederate com- 
merce destroyers that had been fitted out in English ports. 

In 1871 commissioners from both nations met at Washington 
and made a treaty. The treaty is known as the Treaty of 
Washington. It provided for the settlement by arbitration of 
the questions in dispute between the two nations. These 
questions wore : The disputed boundary line between British 
Columbia and the territory of Washington, the rights of Amer- 
ican fisherman in Canadian waters, and the claim of the United 
States for damages for the destruction of American commerce 
during the Civil War by vessels fitted out in British ports. 
The last-mentioned item is known as the '^Alabama Claims," 
and was settled by the board of arbitration, which awarded 
fifteen million five hundred thousand dollars' damages to the 
United States. This treaty is important, because it is the first 
notable example of the voluntary arbitration by two great 
nations of questions in dispute. 

263. Application of the Monroe Doctrine. — During the 
Civil War a French army had been sent into Mexico, and a 
French Empire had been established with Maximilian, an 
Austrian Archduke, as Emperor. Soon after the close of the 
war about fifty thousand Union veterans under General Sher- 
idan were stationed along the boundary between Mexico and 
Texas, and the Secretary of State intimated to the French 
government that the Ignited States was now in a position to 
enforce the principles of the Alonroe Doctrine. The French 
soldiers were at once removed ; Maximilian was executed, and 
Mexico again became a republic. 

Another important application of the Monroe Doctrine 
occurred in l<S9r). In that year Great Britain and Venezuela 
could not agree upon the boundary between their territory in 
South America. \'cnezuela appealed to the United States, and 
the United States asked Great Britain to submit the question 



Foreign Relations 



509 



to arbitration in accordance with the Monroe Doctrine. Great 
Britain claimed that the world had outgrown that doctrine. On 
receiving a note from the British government taking this posi- 
tion, Cleveland, with the authority of Congress, appointed a 
commission to determine the boundary in dispute. In a message 
to Congress he stated that 
wdien the boundary line 
should have been deter- 
mined by the commission, 
the United States would 
feel obliged to maintain it. 
England then consented 
to have the matter sub- 
mitted to arbitration. The 
firm stand of Cleveland 
served as a notice to the 
world that the United 
States would strictly en- 
force the Monroe Doc- 
trine. 

Still another application 
of the Monroe Doctrine 
occurred in 1902. At that 
time Germany, England, and other nations wished to collect 
some debts which Venezuela owed their citizens. In order to 
compel the payment of these debts, England and Germany 
blockaded some of the ports of .Venezuela. Through the influ- 
ence of the government of the United States all the claims 
were adjusted by arbitration, and several questions in dispute 
were referred to the Hague Tribunal (see next Article). 

264. Growth of Arbitration, — The principle of arbitration 
at various times has been employed in the settling of domestic 
difficulties in the United States. This method of adjusting 
disputes has proved particularly effective in the settlement of 
great strikes, which have threatened the various industries of 
the nation, and even in some cases the welfare of the whole 
nation. An instance of this latter kind may be found in the 
great coal strike of 1902-1903 in the Pennsylvania coal fields, 




Grover Cleveland 



5 I o Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 



which was settled by arbitration after causiiii:^ <;reat injury to 
industries and much suffcrinj^ amonj:^ many of the people. As 
has been stated, the settlement of disputes between Great 
Britain and the United States by a board consisting of arbi- 
trators appointed by other nations was the first notable applica- 
tion of arbitration to international affairs. It marked a distinct 

advance in the settlement of 
international questions, and 
has since been recognized as 
the best way in which to deal 
with niany international diffi- 
culties. In 1890 another im- 
portant advance was made. 
In that year, at the suggestion 
of the Czar of Russia, dele- 
gates from twenty-six nations 
met at The Hague in Holland 
for the purpose of providing 
for a permanent Court of Ar- 
bitration for the settlement of 
difficulties between nations 
without their going to war. 
The work of this conference 
met wath the heartiest ap- 
proval of the various nations 
of the world, and as a result 
the Hague Tribunal of Peace has been established. It is the 
object of this tribunal to settle justly and fairly all such ques- 
tions arising between nations as may be submitted to it, and 
thus to promote the peace and welfare of the world. The 
United States has been among the foremost in urging the 
principles of arbitration. 

265. The Spanish-American War: (a) Causes. — The 
remote cause of this war was the Si")anish misgovernment of 
her West Indian possessions, which caused continual rebellion 
among the inhabitants and endangered American property 
interests there. Moreover, the American people felt a great 
deal of sympathy for the people who were struggling for liberty 




Theodore Roosevelt 



Foreign Relations 5 i i 

and trying to establish a republican form of government, and 
against whom a cruel and bloody warfare was being waged. 
The declaration of war was hastened by the destruction of the 
American battleship Maine, in the harbor of Havana, with the 
loss of more than two hundred and fifty men. It has not yet 
been proved, but it was generally believed that the destruc- 
tion of the vessel was caused by the Spaniards. At any 
rate, it served to arouse the people of the Ignited vStates and 
hastened the war for the independence of Cuba. 

(b) Campaigns. — The Ameri- 
can navy decided the war in favor 
of the United States. Two naval 
battles were fought, one ofif the 
southern coast of Cuba, and one 
in the Philippine Islands which 
belonged to Spain, and where a 
part of the Spanish navy was sta- 
tioned. In these two battles the 
Spanish navy was practically de- 
stroyed, without the loss to the 

American forces of a single ship, ^^^i^rsr:^:??- 

and with the loss of but one man. Admiral George Dewey 

With her navy destroyed, Spain The victor in the battle of 

11^, , , re . Miinila Bay, 1808 

could not hope to make any etrect- 

ive resistance on the land, either in the Philippines or in the 
West Indies. The chief land campaign of the war had for its 
object the capture of Santiago. Two vigorous battles were 
fought at El Caney and San Juan before the city was captured 
by the Americans. Another successful campaign was begun 
in Porto Rico, but was soon stopped by the declaration of 
peace. A third army was sent to the Philippines, where it 
aided in the capture of the chief city, Manila. 

(c) Results. — The war itself was comparatively insignifi- 
cant, but its results are of great importance to the United 
States. As an immediate result, Cuba became independent of 
Spain, and the United States gained considerable territory, in 
the management of which she has entered upon some new 
policies. By the treaty of peace which ended the war the 




512 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 



United States acquired the Philippine Islands, Guam, Porto 
Rico, and other Spanish West Indian Islands, giving Spain in 
return twenty million dollars. This war had shown the military 
value of the Hawaiian Islands, and they also were annexed to 
the United States in ISDS. The annexation of Hawaii had 
been proposed to the United States before, and would very 
likely have taken place in any event, but the war hastened it. 

The political effect of this 
war is far-reaching and 
may vitally affect the policy 
of the United States. If 
these possessions are 
treated as colonies, the 
United States may be com- 
pelled to mix in Asiatic and 
European affairs, thus to a 
certain extent abandoning 
the principle of neutrality 
established by Washington, 
to which the United States 
has always strictly adhered. 
Previous to the acquisition 
of this territory all of the 
country acquired by the 
Ignited States had been 
practically unsettled, leav- 




San Jtax Blockhouse, showing 
Marks of Shot 



ing for the American people the development of its resources 
and its preparation for becoming an integral part of the Union. 
Most of the territory ac(|uired from Spain during the recent 
war is thickly poinilated, and if it be held as colonial posses- 
sions, and the Constitution of the Ignited States be not permitted 
to extend over it in full, a new principle will have entered in the 
American government. These questions belong to the future, 
and their solution will constitute some of the most important 
work of American statesmen. 

266. The Isthmian Canal. — As early as LSoO the building 
of a ship canal through part of Central America was discussed, 
and a treaty made between England and America regarding the 




M)TE.— The total distance from San Franct 
to Manila, via Hawaii and Guam, is 8' 
Statute Mites. 
From Puerto Rico to the Philippines, is 

or half around the Olotw. 
The total ilistance frwm San Juan, Pue rf 
to Manila Tia New Tork .ft Saa FtaocL 
i;(,(N>0 mllea. 



Foreign Relations 



513 



neutrality of such canal when built. From time to time treaties 
were made concerning a canal to be built through Central 
America, but nothing was accomplished. The Spanish- Ameri- 
can War emphasized the value of such a canal, and in 1901 the 
matter was taken up again. A second treaty was then made 
with England, guaranteeing the neutrality of the proposed 
canal, but giving the United States the right of ownership and 
defense. The construction of the canal was then taken up by 
Congress. Two routes were proposed, one by way of Nicaragua 




Panama Canal in Construction 

and the other by way of Panama. A large sum was appropri- 
ated for the construction of the canal, and negotiations were at 
once begun with Colombia for a canal by way "of Panama. 
Upon the rejection by Colombia of the treaty giving the United 
States the power to construct the canal, Panama revolted and 
established a republic which was at once recognized by the 
United States and the other leading nations. In 1904 the 
United States entered into a treaty with the government of 
Panama, and work on the canal was at once begun. Previous 
to this, however, a French company had done a great deal of 
work on this canal. 



5 1 4 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 



INSTITUTIONAL LIFE 

267. Introductory. — There has been remarKable progress 
in the United States since the Civil War alon^- institutional 
lines. F.spccially is this true of the institutions of education 
and l)usiness. The industrial or business proj^ress made during 
this time has never been equaled in any other period of the 
world's history. The progress has affected the entire institu- 
tional life of the country, and made the United States the 
wealthiest nation in the world. The rapid increase in wealth, 
together with a certain class of foreign immigration, has intro- 
duced some new factors into the social life of the nation. There 
has been very little change in the institutions of government 
and religion, except slow and natural development along lines 
laid down in previous periods. 

268. Industrial Conditions: (a) Improvement in tJic 
Means of I'ransportaiion and Communication. — Since the Civil 
War there have been many important inventions and discov- 
eries in means of transportation and communication ; but none 
of these caused anything like the revolution along industrial 
and other institutional lines that was caused by the introduction 
of the railroad and telegraph. Before the railroad and telegraph 
came into use, animal power and wind power were the only 
forces used l)v man in transportation and communication, 
except the limited use of steam power in water navigation. As 
has already been seen, the use of electric power for purposes 
of communication, and of steam power for purposes of land 
transportation, brought about an astounding revolution in insti- 
tutional life. The use of these two forces for such purposes 
wdll always make that period of history between 1828 and 18G0 
stand unique and unrivaled in the history of the world. No 
other inventions or discoveries in means of transportation and 
communication can ever afifect human progress so profoundly 
as these have done, because the railroad and telegraph have too 
nearly overcome the element of time in carrying goods, passen- 
gers, and messages. Other inventions and discoveries, how- 
ever, will make transportation and communication cheaper and 
more convenient. Among those of this kind which have come 



Institutional Life 515 

into use since 18()0 are the cable and electric railways, the 
bicycle, the automobile, and the telephone. The telephone and 
street railways have become very important factors in the busi- 
ness and social life of the nation. But the most important 
development in means of transportation and communication 
made during this period has been the growth of steam railroads. 
In 1860 there were only about thirty thousand miles of these 
railroads in the United States, while in 1905 there were more 
than two hundred and ten thousand miles, and new lines are 
constantly in course of construction. In ISGO there were no 
railroads west of the Missouri River. The first line reaching 
to the Pacific coast was completed in ISHD. Four other trans- 
continental lines have been built since then, and all these, 
together with their branches, have penetrated almost every part 
of the West. It is a remarkable and important fact that the 
United States contains almost as many miles of railroad as 
do all the other nations together. These vast railway svstems 
in the United States have had a more important effect on the 
institutional life of the nation than any other one factor. They 
have aided industrial growth by making it possible to develop 
the great natural resources of the country, especially those of 
the interior part. They have also had a profound effect on the 
industrial development of the country by creating an immense 
home market for the products of all parts of the nation. If 
the railroads did not exist, a large share of the products of 
many parts of the Ignited States would never find a market. 
Tlie improved means of transportation and communication 
have also exerted a great and beneficial inlluence on the nation 
socially by bringing the people into closer touch, doing away 
with sectionalism, and thus promoting the growth of a true 
national life. 

(b) Other Inventions and Discoveries. — The period of 
Reconstruction, Development, and Expansion, like the period 
of Westward Expansion and Slavery, is justly noted for its 
numerous useful and important inventions and discoveries. 
Alore inventions have been made during this period than in 
any other period of the world's history. This is true of each 
kind of business and pleasure in which tools, implements, or 



5i6 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 

nianufactured goods of any kind are used. Many discoveries 
have also been made in the sciences since 18()0, and they are 
of fully as much importance to mankind as are those made 
along mechanical lines. It would require more than fifty pages 
on which to name the more important inventions and discoveries 
which have been made during the last forty-five years. During 
this period, as was true of the period just before the Civil War, 
the people of the United States have led the world in the matter 
of mechanical inventions. Some of the inventions for the prac- 
tical use of electric power have been among the most valuable 
made. The practical application of electricity to the telephone, 
to wireless telegraphy, and to the electric railway has already 
been noted. The electric lamp is another distinguished example 
of its practical use. Among the rapidly increasing uses to 
which electricity is being put, none promises to be of more 
value to mankind than its use in medical science, as, for exam- 
ple, the Roentgen, or X-Ray. The use of electric power for 
practical purposes has only just begun, and while many valuable 
inventions and discoveries are being made, and will continue 
to be made in almost every field of work, everything indicates 
that the greatest and most valuable mechanical inventions that 
will be made in the near future will be in the domain of 
electricity. 

(c) DcTclopmaii of Mineral Resources, and of .h^ricullure 
and Manitfaefuring. — One of the first efifccts of the invention 
of new machinery, and of the increased production of iron, 
copper, gold, and silver goods of all kinds, is to create an 
increased demand for the minerals out of which this machinery 
iind these gootls are made. Between l.SCO and 190.") the pro- 
duction in tlic I'nited Slates of machinery, and of iron, copper, 
gold, and silver goods, increased more than tenfold. This 
remarkable growth created an immense demand for iron, 
copper, gold, silver, and other ores, which in turn caused the 
rapid and extensive development of the mineral resources of 
the nation. Another inijiortant result of the invention and 
production of useful niacliinery is to increase the production of 
manufactured goods and agricultural products. Since 1S()0 
this has been especially true in the United States. Many kinds 



Institutional Life 517 

of goods are now manufactured by machinery which were 
formerly made by hand, and many kinds of good which were 
formerly made slowly with machinery are now manufactured 
rapidly and in large quantities by new and improved machinery. 
The new farming machinery invented has had a similar effect 
on agriculture. The invention of the reaper, the threshing 
machine, and other improved farming machinery during the 
period of Westward Expansion and Slavery reduced the 
amount of hard labor on the farm, and made farming more 
pleasant and more profitable. This is also true of the new and 
improved farming machinery invented since ISGO. This new 
machinery, together with the opening by the railroads of almost 
all the rich land in the nation, has caused a wonderful in- 
crease in the production of agricultural products. There are 
now at the beginning of 1905 more than six million farms 
in the United States. The products raised on these six 
million farms in 1904, were worth about four billion dol- 
lars, and the value of these farms was more than fifteen 
billion dollars. Thus the value of farms and farm products 
was more than five times as great in 1905 as in ISHO. 
This shows that the growth of agriculture during the last 
forty-five years has been much greater in the United States 
than the growth of population. At this point this question will 
naturally arise: If farm products have increased so much 
faster than population, what becomes of all these farm pro- 
ducts? While a larger quantity is exported now than in 1800, 
the large surplus is consumed mostly by American manufac- 
turers. So far as value is concerned, more than half of all the 
agricultural products of the United States is used by American 
manufactories in the manufacture of goods. This is a strik- 
ing example of how the farming industry of the nation has be- 
come closely connected with the manufacturing industry. 
From this it becomes plain that if the manufacturing industry 
is injured, then the farming industry is injured; and if the 
farming industry is injured, then the manufacturing industry 
is injured. When both of these great industries are pros- 
perous, the entire nation consumes more mineral and manu- 
factured and farm products than under any other condition, all 



5 I 8 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 

lines of industry are prosperous, and limes are said to be 
jjood. This large consumption of the raw products of the 
farm by the manufactories would indicate that the manufac- 
turing industry must have been prosperous during this period. 
This was true to a notable degree. The total value in 1904 
of all the manufactured products in the United States was 
about fourteen billion dollars, nearly seven times as much as in 
ISdO. Thus it will be seen that the growth of manufactories 
has gone hand in hand with the growth of agriculture. The 
growth of each has been more rapid during the last five years 
than during any other period of the same length in tlie his- 
tory of this or any other nation. The indications are that 
this growth will continue, and that the United States will 
continue to lead the nations of the world in the amount and 
value of her luanufactured and farm products. 

(d) Increase in Commerce, Forei'c^ii and Domestic. — Dur- 
ing the period since ISHO. as was true during the period of 
Westward Expansion and Slavery, the great growth in the 
farming and manufacturing industries led naturally to a 
rapid growth in commerce, cities, and general population. The 
foreign commerce of the United States since 1897 has aver- 
aged more than two billion dollars per year, the exports being 
larger than the imports, thus leaving the balance of trade with 
foreign nations in favor of the United States. While this 
foreign commerce is larger than that of any other nation, and 
while it is of very great importance to the ])rosperity of the 
country, the home or domestic commerce is nuich larger and 
is of nnich greater importance. The home commerce of the 
United States is several times larger than the home commerce 
of any other nation, and larger than the total foreign com- 
merce of all the other nations. This. is due to the large amount 
of farm products used by American manufactories, and to the 
excessively large aiuount of manufactured and farm products 
which the great prosperity of the American people causes them 
to use. 

(e) Grozi'tli of Cities. — The great growth of manufactories 
and of domestic and foreign commerce, which has taken place 
during the forty-five years since 18G0, has caused a rapid 



Institutional Life 519 

growth in population and cities. During this time the popu- 
lation has increased from about thirty-one millions to more 
than eighty millions, not including Alaska nor any of the 
territory secured from Spain as a result of the Spanish-Ameri- 
can War. In 18(30 there were about five million people living 
in the towns and cities of the United States, while in 1905 
this number had increased to more than twenty-five millions. 
It will be seen from this that in 18G0 about one person out of 
every six lived in the cities, while in 1905 one out of every 
three lived in the cities. The growth of cities, therefore, has 
been extremely rapid. New York, with its population of about 
three and one half millions, is the second largest city in the 
world; and Chicago, with a population of nearly two millions, 
is the fifth largest city in the world. Philadelphia has a popu- 
lation of about one and one-third millions. There are three 
other cities in the United States with populations of more than 
five hundred thousand, and nine others with populations of 
from three to five hundred thousand. In 18G0 New York was 
the only city in the United States with a population of more 
than five hundred thousand, and it then had a population of 
less than eight hundred thousand. This unusual tendency to 
crowd to the cities is thought by many people to be bad for 
the best welfare of the United States. The real basis of the 
nation's wealth and growth must continue to depend largely 
on the prosperity of its farms. Farm life in the United vStates 
is becoming more and more pleasant and independent, and it 
is to be hoped that many of the American boys and girls will 
remain on the farms and make farming the most pleasant and 
independent of American industries. 

(f) The Nczv South. — During the period since the Civil 
War the South has had her full share in the great industrial 
growth of the nation. Never before since the American Revo- 
lution did she have her share in the prosperity of the countrv 
as a whole. The cause of this change was the destruction of 
slavery. Before the Civil War slavery had been the corner 
stone of southern society. With the emancipation of the slaves 
this society passed away, and on its ruins rose a new South, 
having free labor for its foundation. It was soon to be seen 



520 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 




A Cotton Factory in Alabama 



that the lack of free labor was what had caused the South to 
fall l)eliind the rest of the nation in industrial prosjierity. At 
the close of the war the southern people bej^^an with a will 

to rearranj^^e their 
industrial condi- 
tions. They have 
succeeded splen- 
didly, and are now 
convinced that 
the abolition of 
slavery was the 
best thine: that 
could have hap- 
pened. Since 18G0 
the South has be- 
come covered with a network of excellent railroads. Her 
mineral resources, which are second to none in the world, have 
been made use of and are being rapidly developed. Manufac- 
tories are springing- into existence and many of them already 
rival those of the North ; and for the first time in her history, 
her cities are having a rapid growth in population. Instead of 
the abolition of slavery injuring the production of cotton, her 
annual crop of that staple is now almost three times as large 
as the largest crop produced by slave labor. Much of this 
cotton, instead of being sent to the North and to foreign nations, 
is now being used in her own manufactories. The total popu- 
lation of those states which were slave states in IS GO has more 
than doubled since the Civil War. In 1000 their combined 
population was more than twenty-six and one half millions, or 
about five millions less than the total population of the United 
States at the beginning of the war. The total population of 
those states which were free states at the beginning of the war 
has also more than doubled since that time, thus their relative 
growth being about the same as that of the southern states. 
This is one of the strongest proofs that the prosperity of the 
South is at last keeping pace with that of the rest of the nation, 
(g) The Development of the West. — The rapid settlement 
and growth of the country lying west of Arkansas, Missouri, 



Institutional Life 



521 




Iowa, and Minnesota since 1S(!0 have never been surpassed in 
the pioneer period of any other part of the United States. There 
were no raih-oads in this vast territory in 18(50. In 1905 five 
Hnes extended all the way across it to the Pacific coast, and 
these lines, together with their branches, afiforded ample means 
of transportation 
to all the people in 
the settled por- 
tions. These rail- 
roads have been 
the most important 
factors in the very 
rapid development 
of the West. Cali- 
fornia and Oregon 
were the only 
states in all that 
vast territory at 
the beginning of 
the Civil War. At 
that time the total 

population of these two states, and of all the rest of the western 
country, was only a few hundred thousand. In 1905 this same 
western country contained thirteen states and four territories, 
and had a combined population of about nine millions. It thus 
contained the same number of states and three times as large a 
population as did the entire United States at the close of the 
American Revolution. This western country now produces 
nearly all the gold and silver mined in the United States except 
that obtained in Alaska, and a large proportion of the fruit, 
wheat, corn, cattle, and sheep. San Francisco, with a popula- 
tion of more than four hundred thousand in 1905, is the largest 
city west of the Mississippi, and the ninth largest city in the 
nation. There has been an important growth of manufactories 
on the Pacific coast, as is indicated by the fact that a number 
of the largest battle ships in the United States navy have been 
built in the shipyards of San Francisco, and several in the 
shipyards of Puget Sound. The growth of the great West in 



City Hall^ San Francisco 



522 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 




bHIPBUILDING ON THE PACIFIC CoAST 



population and wealth has only just bei^un. The completion of 
the Panama Canal, which happily at last seems assured, and the 
increasing commerce of the nation with the Orient are factors 
evidently destined to cause the rapid growth and development 
of the Pacific coast states. 

269. Social Conditions. — There have been some important 

changes in social 

conditions since 
the Civil War, 
some for the bet- 
ter, some for the 
worse. The more 
important factors 
that have tended 
to change and 
modify the social 
conditions of the 
nation during this 
period are the im- 
provement in means of transportation and communication ; the 
negro question ; the immense foreign immigration ; and the 
great industrial advance which has resulted in the creation of 
large private fortunes. The improvement in means of trans- 
portation and communication has done more than any other one 
thing to break down localisms in manners and customs, and 
thus to unify the social life of the nation. The coming to the 
United States in recent years of so many emigrants from 
Europe is having a rather undesirable effect on social con- 
ditions, because many of these emigrants congregate in large 
cities, and do not readily assimilate American customs • and 
ideals. The negro question, which was created by the eman- 
cipation and enfranchisement of the negroes, more vitally 
concerns the South, although it affects the entire nation. 
The solution of this question rests largely with the people of 
the South, and in this work they deserve the sympathy and 
co-operation of every citizen of the nation. Industrial education 
such as is being carried on in a number of southern institutions 
with gratifying results, promises to be the most important 



Institutional Life 



523 



factor in the solution of tliis problem. The great industrial 
development of the nation has tended, on the whole, to advance 
social conditions, because it has enabled the great mass of the 
people to have better homes, better clothes, better food, and 
more luxuries, and to enjoy more fully the pleasures of social 
life. On the other hand, the tendency of large private fortunes 
is to create class distinction based on wealth. While there are 




Main Waiting Room, Immigration Building, New York City 



some undesirable tendencies and conditions in the social life of 
the nation, the great advance along industrial lines has caused, 
and is causing, steady improvement. 

270. Education: (a) Nature of Development. — In no 
respect has the advance of the United States since the Civil 
War been more marked than in the matter of education. Splen- 
did advance along educational lines has been made in all parts 
of the United States. It is seen in the present condition of the 
public school system and in numerous institutions of higher 
education ; in the number and quality of newspapers and maga- 
zines ; in institutes, conventions, and clubs of various kinds, 



524 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 



which have for their object mutual improvement; and in the 
increased number of museums, hbraries, and art galleries. 
Nothing holds a brighter promise for the future of the nation 
than the increasing determination of the American people to 
provide excellent free education for every American boy and 
girl. The future of the republic is safe only so long as the 
masses of the people are educated. It is the duty of every 

person to improve 
in every wa}' pos- 
sible the efficiency 
of the free public 
school s y s t e m. 
One of the most 
vital things in con- 
nection with the 
improvement o f 
schools is the 
question of teach- 
ers' salaries. Able 
men and women 
cannot be expect- 
ed to devote their 
lives to teaching 
when they are paid 
smaller salaries 
than they can se- 
cure in other pro- 
fessions. Henry 
Ward B e e c h e r 
made this point 
plain when he 
said : "There is no profession so exacting, none that breaks 
down so early, as that of faithful teaching; and there is no 
economy so penurious, and no policy so intolerably mean, as 
that by which the custodians of public afifairs screw down to 
the starvation point the small wages of men and women who 
are willing to devote their time and strength to teaching the 
young. In political movements, thousands of dollars can be 




Horace Greeley 
One of the Greatest of American Newspaper Kditors 



Institutional Life 525 

squandered, but for the teachinj^ of the children of the people 
the cheapest teachers must be had, and their pay must be 
reduced whenever a reduction of expenses is necessary. If 
salaries ever should be ample, it is in the profession of school 
teaching. If there is one place where we ought to induce 
people to make their profession a life business, it is in the 
teaching of schools." 

(b) The Public Elementary School System. — The Free 
Elementary Public School System as it exists in the United 
States to-day has been built up and developed almost entirely 
since the Civil War. There were public schools before the 
Civil War, and they were doing an excellent work ; but there 
were not many free public schools before that time, and in 
efficiency and equipment these schools were far inferior to 
those of to-day. J^ist before 18G0 the people were beginning 
to demand free public schools as a right, and this soon resulted 
in placing the general management of the school system under 
the control of state school officials and in the levying of state 
school taxes. This was a new principle in education, for before 
such matters had been left almost entirely in the hands of city 
and county officials. At the present time the constitutions of 
nearly all the states make ample provision for the maintenance 
of the free public school system. Nearly all of the states west 
of the Alleghany Mountains set aside, under the direction of 
Congress at the time of their organization, certain lands in 
each township for the support of public schools. In most cases 
these lands have been sold, and the money obtained from their 
sale constitutes a fund, the interest on which is used for school 
purposes. When additional money is needed, it is raised by 
direct local and state taxation. Although each state has its 
own school system, and there is a wide difference as to the 
length of school terms, qualifications and salaries of teachers, 
courses of study and similar matters, there are strong forces 
at work which tend to make the schools uniform throughout 
the United States. Among these forces are state and national 
educational associations and the National Bureau of Education, 
the latter being under the direct control of the national gov- 
ernment. 



526 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 

(c) The Public High School System. — The advance in 
high school education during this period has been as great and 
ahiiost as important to the people and to the welfare of the 
nation as the improvement in the elementary schools. The 
whole public high school system has been developed largely 
within the last forty years, the number of high schools more 
than doubling between 181)0 and 190"). The high schools have 
been aptly termed the colleges of the people. They are becom- 
ing so numerous in many parts of the nation that a large pro- 
portion of children can attend them without leaving their own 
towns or school districts. The service of these schools in 
strengthening the work of the elementary schools, and in giving 
the young of all classes an opportunity to secure a higher and 
broader education, can hardly be overestimated. Many of the 
public high schools in the United States to-day offer courses 
of study of as high grade as did Harvard and Yale in 1800. 

(d) Colleges, Universities, and Special Schools. — The 
growth of state universities is one of the most notable features 
in the advance of education in the United States. Nearly every 
state has established an institution of thi.^ kind, supported by 
taxation, grants of land, and appropriations. Several great 
institutions of learning and numerous smaller colleges have 
been established throughout the United States by private indi- 
viduals. Some of these private institutions, and nearly all the 
state universities, charge either a very small tuition or no 
tuition whatever. This gives almost every persevering and 
ambitious boy and girl a chance to secure a university educa- 
tion. Nothing is more notable in the recent advance of edu- 
cation than the rapidly increasing number of young people who 
are entering the institutions of higher learning. The universi- 
ties and colleges of the United States are having a marked and 
important effect on American character and ideals. The special 
schools are also having a profound effect on the industrial and 
professional life of the nation. Among these special schools 
are normal schools for the training of teachers ; medical schools 
for the training of physicians and surgeons"; law schools for 
the training of lawyers ; and many other schools for the train- 
ing of men and women along professional and technical lines. 



Questions and Topics 527 

More and more of these special schools are beginning work 
where the work of the university ends. They are training a 
larger number of experts for the various professions, and are 
thus rendering a very important service to the nation. 



QUESTION AND TOPICS 

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES 

Questions for Class Recitations 

What was the condition of government in the seceded states at 
the close of the Civil War? Explain the question which this con- 
dition brought before the national government. Explain carefully 
each of the three views which were held regarding the relation of 
the seceded states to the national government. To what extent 
did Lincoln carry out his views, and what did he say his future 
policy in the whole matter would be? Describe the circumstances 
of Lincoln's death. How was his death received by the northern 
people? Explain why the news of his death was received with 
sincere sorrow and regret by the entire civilized world. Why was 
his death an especially great loss to the South? Describe the early 
life of Lincoln. Discuss Lincoln's character and ability. 

Compare Lincoln's and Johnson's policies of reconstruction. 
Explain how and to what extent Johnson carried out his policy. 
Read and explain the Thirteenth Amendment. Explain the nature 
of the laws which the new state legislatures of the South passed for 
the control of the negroes. Why did the South pass these laws? 
What effect did the passage of these laws have on the northern 
people? Explain carefully how Congress, when it met in Decem- 
ber, 1865, treated the reconstruction policy of Johnson. Explain 
the creation, power, and purpose of the Freedmen's Bureau. Ex- 
plain the relation and feeling which existed between Congress and 
Johnson over the Freedmen's Bureau and other matters of recon- 
struction. Read and explain the provisions of the Fourteenth 
Amendment. Explain carefully how this amendment was received 
in the South, and why it was so received. By this time what was 
the attitude of the people of the North on the question of recon- 
struction? E.xplain carefully the plan of reconstruction provided 
for in the Reconstruction Acts. How did the seceded states receive 
these acts? Read and explain the provisions of the Fifteenth 
Amendment. In what way was this amendment connected with the 
end of the political reconstruction of tlie South? 
37 



528 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 

Discuss the imi)eachmcnt of President Johnson. Explain how 
tlic reconstruction policj^ of Congress enabled northern immigrants 
and the negroes to control for a time some of the state legislatures 
of the South. How did the southern people feel about this? How 
would you have felt? Explain the relation between the race ques- 
tion and the reconstruction of the seceded states. Give your 
opinion as to the wisdom of making the Fifteenth Amendment a 
part of the Constitution. 



POLITICAL METHODS AND POLITICAL PARTIES 

Questions for Class Recitations 

Explain the Australian ballot system. Explain careful!}' why the 
adoption of this system was a very important advance in political 
methods. Why is it very important for the people to take an active 
part in the selection of candidates for office? How may they do 
this? Describe the Spoils System, and explain carefully the bad 
results of this system. Explain carefully the object of the Civil 
Service Laws. Give the history of these laws in the United States 
and whatxthey have accomplished. 

Discuss the leaders and principles of the Republican party since 
the Civil War. Discuss the leaders and principles of the Demo- 
cratic party during this period. Discuss the leading issues between 
these two parties during this period. Discuss the conditions caus- 
ing the formation of other parties. 

FINANCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL LEGISL.KTION 

Questions for Class Recitations 

What was the condition of the finances of the national govern- 
ment at the beginning of the Civil War? Why did the government 
find it necessary to issue paper money? What is a national bond? 
Why did the government issue bonds during the war? Describe 
the national bank system. AVhy was it created? What action did 
Congress take against the state banks? What is specie paj^ment? 
When the paper money was first issued, could it be exchanged for 
gold and silver money? What efifect did this have on the use of 
gold and silver money in business affairs? Explain what is meant 
by the resumption of specie payment in 1864. What effect did this 
have on the amount of paper money in circulation? After 1864. 
when and for what reason was specie payment discontinued, and 
when was it resumed? Explain fully what is meant by standard 
moneJ^ Up to 1873, what was standard money in the United 



Questions and Topics 529 

States? Explain carefull}- Iiow silver since 1S73 has tjradtjally lost 
its position as a full standard mone}'. 

Explain the two main objects for which tariff duties are levied. 
Explain the two dififerent views regarding the value of the pro- 
tective principle of ,the tarifif. What is your opinion as to the 
merits of the protective system? Beginning with the Civil War, 
trace and explain the tarifif legislation of the nation. 

What is a corporation? For what purposes are corporations 
organized? What is a trust? Give some examples of vast corpo- 
rations or trusts. In what ways are they beneficial, and in what 
ways are they harmful? "What is a labor union? Why were labor 
unions organized? In what way have they benefited the working 
classes? What is meant by personal freedom and personal initia- 
tive in business and industry'? (This question should receive a 
most careful discussion by teacher and pupils.) Explain carefully 
how freedom in business and industry and fair, open, and honest 
industrial competition are principles that are absolutely necessary 
to the prosperity and happiness of the American people. Why is 
it necessary that the people see to it that great combinations do 
not interfere with these principles? Explain in what ways certain 
combinations have done so or have threatened to do so already. 
Describe those laAvs which have already been passed for the pur- 
pose of restricting the powers and defining the duties of corpora- 
tions, trusts, and other combinations. 

FOREIGN RELATIONS 

Questions for Class Recit.'itions 

How did the United States secure Alaska? Describe the terri- 
tory. Of what value is it to the United States? 

Explain how the seizure of the Confederate commissioners on 
the British vessel Trent created a strong feeling among the north- 
ern people against Great Britain. Why was the government of the 
United States not very anxious after the Civil War to settle the 
disputes between this country and England? Discuss the provis- 
ions of the Treaty of Washington. Explain the final results se- 
cured by the provisions of this treaty. Why is this treaty of 
special importance? 

Describe the conditions in Mexico during the Civil War. Ex- 
plain how the principles of the ?^Ionroe Doctrine applied to these 
conditions. Discuss the Venezuelan boundai'y dispute, and the 
application of the Monroe Doctrine to this case. How did the 
Monroe Doctrine apply to the recent blockade of the ports of 
Venezuela? What effect did all this have on the Monroe Doctrine? 

(The teacher should consult magazines covering this period for 



53° Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 

material on this topic. The American Review of Reviews is 
especially valuable.) What is meant by arbitration? Describe the 
appointing of a board of arbitration. Give examples of its use in 
settling difficulties between laborers and their employers in the 
United States. Of what value is arbitration in cases of this kind? 
Give instances of the application of the principle of arbitration to 
international affairs affecting the United States. Discuss the estab- 
lishment of the Hague Peace Tribunal. Give a history of this tri- 
bunal and its work. What can you say of its probable value to 
mankind? 

Discuss the causes of the Spanish-American War. Discuss the 
leading naval battles of this war, and discuss their effect. Describe 
the, campaign for the capture of Santiago. (Eacli pupil should 
draw a map illustrating the important battles of this war.) Discuss 
the terms of the treaty of peace. Tell all you can about the char- 
acter and conditions of the territory acquired by the United States 
through this treaty. How did the Spanish-American War affect the 
annexation of Hawaii? (Each pupil should draw a map showing 
the territorial acquisitions of the United States qs a result of this 
war.) How is the territory acquired by this war governed at the 
present time? Compare the government of Hawaii with that of the 
Philippine Islands. Compare the conditions in the territory ac- 
quired from Spain with those in the territory previously acquired 
by the United States. Why was a different policy adopted in the 
government of this new territory from that followed in the organ- 
ization and government of the other territory of the United States? 
In what way, if in any, do the results of the Spanish-American War 
tend to violate the principle of American neutrality established by 
Washington? In what way may the Spanish-American War cause 
a new principle to enter into the government of the United States? 

Tell all you can of the history of the Panama Canal. (Each pupil 
should draw a map showing the two routes proposed.) Discuss 
the importance of this canal, and estimate its probable value to the 
United States and to the commerce of the world. 

INSTITUTIONAL LIFE 

Questions for Class Recitations 

Discuss the nature of the changes in the institutional life which 
have taken place since the Civil War. Explain very carefully why 
the period between 1828 and i860 will always stand unique and un- 
rivaled in the history of the world as regards means of transporta- 
tion and communication. (This last question deserves very care- 
ful consideration.) Describe the nature and value of those new in- 
ventions and discoveries which have affected means of transporta- 



Questions and Topics 531 

tion and communication since i860. Describe the increase in rail- 
road mileage since i860. Explain carefully how this wonderful 
growth of the railways of the nation have affected industrial and 
social conditions. Compare the number and nature of the inven- 
tions made since the Civil War with those made during tne period 
before that war. How did the people of the United States con- 
tinue to compare with the people of other nations in regard to the 
making of inventions and discoveries? Describe the inventions 
made for the practical application of electric power. What is 
your opinion concerning the future use of electricity for practical 
purposes? 

Explain carefully how the invention of new machinery and the 
increased production of iron, copper, gold, and silver goods have 
caused the rapid development of the mineral resources of the na- 
tion. In what way have the new inventions and the increased pro- 
duction of useful machinery caused an increased production of man- 
ufactured goods and agricultural products? (This question de- 
serves very careful consideration.) Describe briefly the growth 
of agriculture during this period. Describe briefly the growth of 
manufactures during this period. What is your opinion regarding 
the future growth in the United States of the agricultural and man- 
ufacturing industries? Explain the relation between the growth in 
the farming and manufacturing industries and the growth in com- 
merce, cities, and population. Compare the foreign commerce of 
the United States with the foreign commerce of other nations. Dis- 
cuss the domestic commerce of the United States, explaining the 
causes of its growth, and comparing it with the domestic and for- 
eign commerce of other nations. Compare the population of the 
United States in i860 with its population in 1905. What have been 
the causes of this rapid growth? Describe the growth of the cities 
during this period. Explain carefully what have been the causes 
of this growth. Why is this unusual tendency to crowd to the 
cities thought to be against the best interests of the nation? 

Compare the growth of the South during this period with her 
growth during the period before the Civil War. What were the 
causes of this change? How did the abolition of slavery affect the 
building of railways in the South? How did it affect the growth of 
manufactories and the production of cotton? How did it affect the 
growth of population? Compare the growth of the West during 
this period with the early settlement and growth of the other sec- 
tions of the United States. Compare the population of this western 
country in i860 with its population in. 1905. Explain carefully the 
growth of the West in means of transportation and communication, 
and in wealth and commerce. What can you say as regards the 
probable future growth of the western country? 



532 Reconstruction, Development, Expansion 

Explain carefully each of the more important factors that have 
brought about changes in tlic social conditions of the nation since 
the Civil War. Explain liovv improvement in means of transporta- 
tion and communication affected social conditions during this 
period. What efifect has the immigration of undesirable people 
from the nations of Europe had upon the social conditions of the 
nation? Explain the importance of the race question to the social 
conditions of the nation. How has the great industrial growth of 
the nation afifected social conditions? What is your opinion con- 
cerning the continued improvement in social conditions? 

How does the growth of education in the United States since the 
Civil War compare witli tlie industrial growth? What things give 
evidence of this educational growth? Explain carefully how this 
great educational advance indicates a bright future for the nation. 
In what vital way is the question of teachers' salaries related to the 
growth of education? Give a very careful discussion of the growth 
of the elementary public school system. Give a very careful dis- 
cussion of the growth of the public high school system. Give a 
very careful discussion of the growth of colleges, universities, and 
special schools. What is the especial value to the nation of these 
schools of higher and special education? 

Questions for Compositions and Examinations 

Discuss the relation of the Confederate states to the national gov- 
ernment at the end of the Civil War. Discuss the death, character, 
and ability of Lincoln. Discuss the reconstruction policy of John- 
son. Discuss .the reconstruction policy of Congress, including a 
careful discussion of the results of this policy. Discuss the changes 
in political methods which took place during this period. Discuss 
the political parties of this period and their position on the leading 
political issues. Give a careful discussion of the nation's financial 
legislation. Beginning with i860, give a careful discussion of tariff 
legislation in the United States. Give a careful discussion of cor- 
porations, trusts, and other combinations. Discuss the Treaty of 
Washington. Discuss the application of the principles of the Mon- 
roe Doctrine during this period. Discuss the growth of arbitration 
in domestic and international affairs. Discuss the Spanish-Ameri- 
can War and its territorial results. Discuss the ways in which the 
form of government adopted by Congress for the territory secured 
from Spain tends to introduce new principles into the government 
of the United States. ?Iow may the results of the Spanish-Amer- 
ican war modify the principle of .A.merican neutrality in European 
afifairs? Discuss the history and importance of the Isthmian Canal. 
Give a careful discussion of the industrial growth of the nation dur- 
ing the forty-five years between i860 and 1905. Discuss the growth 



Questions and Topics 533 

of the South during this period. Discuss the growth of the West 
during this period. Discuss the changes in social conditions which 
have occurred since i860. Give a careful discussion of the growth 
of schools and education in the United States since i860. 

Subjects for Special Study and General Review 

(A careful study of the subjects which follow should constitute 
the review for the eighth-grade work in history and civics. The 
pupil should' have ample time for the study of these subjects, and 
should be permitted free access to this book and to other available 
material when preparing these papers or written discussions.) Be- 
ginning with the Revolution, give a written discussion of the 
Growth of the United States in Terrritory and Population. Begin- 
ning with "Institutional Life in the Colonies," give a written dis- 
cussion of the Growth and Change in Industrial Conditions. Be- 
ginning with "Institutional Life in the Colonies," give a written 
discussion of the Growth and Changes in Social Conditions. Be- 
ginning with "Institutional Life in the Colonies," give a written dis- 
cussion of tiie Growth and Changes in Government. Beginning 
with "Institutional Life in the Colonies," give a written discussion 
of the Growth and Changes in Religion. Beginning with "Institu- 
tional Life in the Colonies," give a written discussion of the Growth 
and Changes in Education. Beginning with the "Critical Period," 
give a written discussion of the Growth and Changes in Financial 
Conditions and Financial Affairs. Beginning with the "Critical 
Period," give a written discussion of the Tariff Policy of the 
United States. Give a written discussion of the Growth of Slavery 
in the United States. Give a written discussion of the American 
Civil War, including its causes and the reconstruction of the se- 
ceded states. Beginning with Washington's first administration, 
give a written discussion of the Foreign Relations of the United 
States, including the period of European Interference, the War with 
IMexico, and the Spanish-American War. Beginning with Wash- 
ington's first administration, give a written discussion of the 
Growth and Changes in Political Parties and Political Methods. 



APPENDIX 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

In Congress, July 4. 1776, 

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of 

America, 

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for 
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected 
them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, 
the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of 
Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of 
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel 
them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalien- 
able Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of 
Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are in- 
stituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent 
of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes 
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter 
or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foun- 
dation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, 
as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happi- 
ness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long estab- 
lished should not be changed for light and transient causes; and 
accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more 
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right them- 
selves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing in- 
variably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under 
absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off 
such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future 
security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; 
and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their 
former Systems of Government. The history of the present King 
of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, 
all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny 
over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a 
candid world. 



ii Appendix 



He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and 
necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and 
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his 
Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly 
neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of people, unless those people would relinciuish the 
right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to 
them and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, un- 
comfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public 
Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance 
with his measures. 

?Ie has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing 
with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause 
others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of 
Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their ex- 
ercise; the State remaining in the meantime exposed to all the 
dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for 
that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreign- 
ers; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, 
and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. 

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his 
Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers. 

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure 
of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither 
swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their sub- 
stance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies with- 
out the Consent of our legislature. 

He has affected to render the Military independent of and 
superior to the Civil Power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; 
giving his Assent to their acts of pretended legislation: 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: 

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any 
Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these 
States: 

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: 

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent: 



Declaration of Independence iii 

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: 

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended of- 
fences: 

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring 
Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and en- 
larging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and 
fit instruinent for introducing the same absolute rule into these 
Colonies: 

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable 
Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: 

For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves 
invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his 
Protection and waging War against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, 
and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercen- 
aries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, al- 
ready begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely 
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the 
Head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the 
high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the 
executioners of their friends and Brethren, -or to fall themselves 
by their Hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst u^, and has en- 
deavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless 
Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished 
destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. 

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for 
Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have 
been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character 
is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to 
be the ruler of a free People. 

Nor have We been wanting in attention to our British brethren. 
We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their 
legislature, to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We 
have reminded them- of the circumstances of our emigration and 
settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and 
magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our com- 
mon kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevita- 
bly interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have 
been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, 
therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separa- 
tion, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind. Enemies in 
War, in Peace Friends. 



iv Appendix 

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of Ameri- 
ca, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme 
Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the 
Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, 
solemnly publish and declare. That these United Colonies are, and 
of ■Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are 
absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all 
political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, 
is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and In- 
dependent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude 
Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other 
Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And 
for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the 
Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other 
our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. 

JOHN HANCOCK 

Neiu Hampshire — Josiah Bartlett, Wm. Whipple, Matthew 
Thornton. 

Massachusetts Bay — Sml. Adams, John Adams, Robt. Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island — Step. Hopkins, William Ellery. 

Connecticut — Roger Sherman, Sam'el Huntington, Wm. Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 

Neiu York — Wm. Floyd, Phil. Livingston, Frans. Lewis, Lewis 
Morris. 

New Jersey — Richd. Stockton, Jno. Witherspoon, Eras. Hopkinson, 
John Hart, Abra. Clark. 

Pennsylvania — Robt. Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benja. Franklin, 
John IMorton, Geo. Clymer, Jas. Smith, Geo. Taylor, James Wilson, 
Geo. Ross. 

Delaivare — Caesar Rodney, Geo. Read, Tho. M'Kean. 

Maryland — Samuel Chase, Wm. Paca, Thos. Stone, Charles Car- 
roll of Carrollton. 

Virginia — George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Th. Jefferson, 
Benja. FIarrison, Thos. Nelson, jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter 
Braxton. 

Nortli Carolina — Wm. Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. 

South Carolina — Edward Ruti.edge, Thos. Heyward, Junr., Thomas 
Lynch, Junr., Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia — Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, Geo. Walton/ 

^ This arrangement of the names is made for convenience. The states 
are not mentioned in the original. 



CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA* 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more 
perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, 
provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, 
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Pos- 
terity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United 
States of America.. 

ARTICLE. I 

Section, i. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested 
in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate 
and House of Representatives. 

Section. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed 
of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several 
States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications 
requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State 
Legislature. 

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained 
to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen 
of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an In- 
habitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among 
the several States which may be included within this Union, ac- 
cording to their respective members, which shall be determined 
by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those 
bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not 
taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration 
shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the 
Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term 
of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The 
number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 

*Reprinted from the text issued by the State Department. 

V 



vi Appendix 

Thousand, but each State sliall have at Least one Representative; 
and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hamp- 
shire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New- 
York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, 
Marj'land six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five. South Carolina 
five, and Georgia three. 

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, 
the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to 
fill such Vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and 
other Ofiicers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. 

Section. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature there- 
of, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of 
the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into 
three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall 
be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second 
Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class 
at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be 
chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resigna- 
tion, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any 
State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments 
until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such 
Vacancies. 

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to 
the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant 
of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the 
Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. 

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President 
pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he 
shall exercise the Office of President of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. 
When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirma- 
tion. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief 
Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without 
the Concurrence of two thirds of the iMembers present. 

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further 
than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy 
any Office of honor. Trust or Profit under the United States; but 
the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to 
Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. 



Constitution of the United States vii 

Section. 4. The Times, Places and ^Manner of holding Elec- 
tions for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each 
State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any 
time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the 
Places of chusing Senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and 
such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they 
shall by Law appoint a different Day. 

Section. 5. Each house shall be the Judge of the Elections, 
Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority 
of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller 
Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to 
compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and 
under such Penalties as each House may provide. 

-Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish 
its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence 
of two thirds, expel a member. 

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from 
time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in 
their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the 
Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of 
one fifth of those Present be entered on the Journal. 

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, with- 
out the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, 
nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be 
sitting. 

Section. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a 
Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law. and 
paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all 
Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privi- 
leged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Sessions of their 
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; 
and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be 
questioned in any other Place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which 
he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority 
of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emolu- 
ments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and 
no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a 
Member of either House during his Continuance in Office. 

Section. 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur 
with Amendments as on other Bills. 

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives 
and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the 



viii Appendix 



President of the United States; Tf he approve he sliall sign it, but 
if not he shall return it, with his Objections, to that House in which 
it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large 
on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after Recon- 
sideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, 
it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, 
by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two 
thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such 
Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and 
Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the 
Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. 
H any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days 
(Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the 
same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which 
Case it shall not be a Law. 

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of 
the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except 
on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President 
of the United States; and before the Same shall take Eflfect, shall 
be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be «re- 
passed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a 
Bill. 

Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect 
Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide 
for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; 
but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout 
the United States. 

To borrow ^Sloney on the credit of the United States; 

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the 
several States, and with the Indian Tribes; 

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform 
Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United 
States; 

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, 
and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; 

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities 
and current Coin of the United States. 

To establish Post Offices and post Roads; 

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing 
for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to 
their respective Writings and Discoveries; 

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; 

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the 
high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; 



Constitution of the United States ix 

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make 
Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; 

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money 
to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; 

To provide and maintain a Navy; 

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land 
and naval Forces; 

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of 
the LTnion, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, 
and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the 
Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, 
the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the 
Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; 

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over 
such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession 
of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the 
Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like 
Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legis- 
lature of the State in which the same shall be, for the Erection of 
Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Build- 
ings; — And 

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other 
Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the 
United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. 

Section. 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as 
any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall 
not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand 
eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on 
such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person. 

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be sus- 
pended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public 
Safety may require it. 

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. 

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Pro- 
portion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be 
taken. 

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any 
State. 

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or 
Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall 
Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, 
or pay Duties in another. 

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence 
as 



X Appendix 



nf Appropriations made by Law; and a reg:iilar Statement and 
Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money 
shall be published from time to time. 

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States; And 
no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, 
withnut the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Em- 
olument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any Kinj?, 
Prince, or foreign State. 

Section, id. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or 
Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; 
emit P>ills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a 
Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post 
facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or 
grant any Title of Nobility. 

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any 
Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be 
absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws; and the net 
Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports 
or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United 
States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and 
Controul of the Congress. 

.No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty 
of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter 
into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or a foreign 
Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such im- 
minent Danger as will not admit of delay. 



ARTICLE. 11 

Section, i. The executive Power shall be vested in a President 
of the United States of America. lie shall hold his Office during 
the Term of four Years, and, together with tlie Vice President, 
chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows 

Each State shall appoint, in such Alanner as the Legislature 
thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Num- 
ber of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be 
entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or 
Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an Elector. 

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhab- 
itant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a 
List of the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for 
each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed 



Constitution of the United States xi 

to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to 
the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall. 
in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open 
all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The 
Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the Presi- 
dent, if such Number be a Majority of the whole number of Electors 
appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, 
and have an equal Nurnber of Votes, then the House of Repre- 
sentatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for 
President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five 
highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the 
President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken 
by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; 
A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members 
from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall 
be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the 
President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the 
Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain 
two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from 
them by Ballot the Vice President. 

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, 
and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall 
be the same throughout the United States. 

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the 
United States, at the time of the Adoption of this -Constitution, 
shall be eligible to the Ofiice of President; neither shall any Per- 
son be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the 
Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident with- 
in the United States. 

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his 
Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and 
Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice Presi- 
dent, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Re- 
moval, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and 
Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, 
and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be re- 
"moved, or a President shall be elected. 

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a 
Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished 
during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he 
shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from 
the United States, or any of them. 

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the 
following Oath or Affirmation: — 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 



xii Appendix 

the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best 
of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the 
United States."' 

Section, 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the 
Army and Navy of the United States, and of the IMilitia of the 
several States, when called into actual Service of the United States; 
he may rcfiuire the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer 
in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating 
to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power 
to grant Reprieves and Pardons for OflFences against the United 
States, except in Cases of Impeachment. 

He shall have Power; by and with the Advice and Consent of the 
Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators 
present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Ad- 
vice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other 
public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all 
other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not 
herein otherwise provided for. and which shall be established by 
Law; but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such 
inferior Officers, as they think proper in the President alone, in the 
Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. 

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may 
happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions 
which shall expire at the End of their next Session. 

Section. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress 
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their 
Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and 
expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both 
Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between 
them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn 
them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Am- 
bassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the 
Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers 
of the United States. 

Section. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers 
of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeach- 
ment for, and Conviction of. Treason, Bribery or other high Crimes 
and Misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE. Ill 

Section, i. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be 
vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the 
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The 
judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their 



Constitution of the United States xiii 

Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive 
for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished 
during their continuance in Office. 

Section. 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in 
Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the 
United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under 
their Authoritj'; — to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public 
Ministers and Consuls; — to all Cases of admiralty and maritime 
Jurisdiction; — to Controversies to which the United States shall 
be a Party; — to controversies between two or more states; — be- 
tween a State and Citizens of another State; — between Citizens of 
different States; — between Citizens of the same State claiming 
Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or 
the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. 

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and 
Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme 
Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases be- 
fore mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdic- 
tion, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under 
such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall 
be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the 
said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed 
within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the 
Congress may by Law have directed. 

Section. 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only 
in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, 
giving them Aid and Comfort. No person shall be convicted of 
Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same 
overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. 

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of 
Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of 
Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person at- 
tainted. 

ARTICLE. IV 

Section, i. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State 
to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every 
other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe 
the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be 
proved, and the Effect thereof. 

Section. 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 
Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. 

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or either 
Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, 



xiv Appendix 

shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from 
which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having 
Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the 
Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any 
Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or 
Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom 
such Service or Labour may be due. 

Section. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into 
this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected v/ithin the 
Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the 
Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the 
Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of 
the Congress. 

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all need- 
ful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Prop- 
erty belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Con- 
stitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the 
United States, or of any particular State. 

Section. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State 
in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect 
each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legisla- 
ture, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be con- 
vened) against domestic Violence. 

ARTICLE. V 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem 
it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, 
on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several 
States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, 
in cither Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part 
of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three 
fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths 
thereof, as the one or the other jNIode of Ratification may be pro- 
posed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may 
be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight 
shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth 
Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its con- 
sent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE. VI 

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the 
Adaption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United 
States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 



Constitution of the United States xv 

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall 
be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which 
shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be 
the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall 
be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of a;iy 
State to the Contrary notwithstanding. 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and 
judicial Ofiticers, both of the United States and of the several 
States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Con- 
stitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Quali- 
fication to any Office or public Trust under the United States, 

ARTICLE. VII 

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be suffi- 
cient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States 
so ratifying the Same. 



THE AMENDMENTS. 



Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the 
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a re- 
dress of grievances. 

IL 

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a 
free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall 
not be infringed. 



■ No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, 
without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 



xvi Appendix 

shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon prob- 
able cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly- 
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be 
seized. 



No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand 
Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; 
nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice 
put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any 
Criminal Case to be witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, 
liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private 
property be taken for public use, without just compensation. 



In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and 
district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which dis- 
trict shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be in- 
formed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted 
with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for 
obtaining Witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of 
Counsel for his defence. 

VII. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be pre- 
served, and no fact tried by a j.ury shall be otherwise re-examined 
in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of 
the common law. 

VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im- 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 



The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not 
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 



Constitution of the United States xvii 



The powers not delegated to the United States by the Consti- 
tution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States 
respectively, or to the people. 



The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed 
to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted 
against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or 
by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. 



The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at leact, 
shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they 
shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and 
in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they 
shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and 
of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of 
votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and trans- 
mit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, 
directed to the President of the Senate; — The President of the 
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be 
counted; — The person having the greatest number of votes for 
President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of 
the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have 
such majority, then from t"he persons having the highest numbers 
not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, 
the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, 
the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be 
taken by states, the representation from each state having one 
vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or mem- 
bers from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states 
shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representa- 
tives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice 
shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next fol- 
lowing, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the 
case of the death or other constitutional disability of. the President. 
The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, 
shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person having a 



xviii Appendix 

majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the 
Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose 
shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and 
a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 
But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President 
shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 



Section i. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as 
a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject 
to their jurisdiction. 

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 

XIV. 

Section i. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United 
States and of the State wherein they reside. No State siiall make 
or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immuni- 
ties of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any 
person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; 
nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection 
of the laws. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the 
several States according to their respective numbers, counting the 
whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not 
taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice 
of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, 
Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers 
of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied 
to any of the male inha])itants of such State, being twenty-one 
3'ears of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the 
basis or representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion 
which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole 
number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in 
Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any 
office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, 
who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, 
or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State 
legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to 



Constitution of the United States xix 

support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged 
in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or give aid or com- 
fort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two- 
thirds of each House, remove such disability. 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pen- 
sions and boundaries for services in suppressing insurrection or re- 
bellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States 
nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred 
in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any 
claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, 
obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by ap- 
propriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 



Section i. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any 
State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article 
by appropriate legislation. 



XX 



Appendix 



AREA AND POPULATION OF THE STATES AND 
TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES. NOT 
INCLUDING ALASKA, ETC. 





Date of Area in Square 


Population, 


State 


Admission 


Miles 


1900 


Alabama 


1819 


52,250 


1,828,697 


Arizona 


Territory 


113,020 


122,931 


Arkansas 


1836 


53,850 


1,311,564 


California 


1850 


158,360 


1,485,053 


Colorado 


1876 


103,925 


539,700 


Connecticut . . . . 


O* 


4,990 


908,355 


Delaware 


o 


2,050 


184,735 


District of Columbia . 


.... 


70 


278.718 


Florida 


1845 


58,680 


528,542 


Georgia 


O 


59,475 


2,216,331 


Idaho .... 


1890 


84,800 


161,772 


Illinois .... 


1818 


56,650 


4,821,550 


Indiana .... 


1816 


36,350 


2,516,462 


Indian Territory . 


Territory 


31,400 


391,960 


Iowa .... 


1845 


56,025 


2,231,853 


Kansas .... 


1861 


82.080 


1,470,-195 


Kentucky 


1792 


40,400 


2,147,174 


Louisiana 


1813 


48,720 


1,381,625 


Maine .... 


1820 


33,040 


694,466 


Maryland 


O 


12.210 


1,190,050 


Massachusetts 


O 


8,315 


2,805,346 


Michigan 


1837 


58,915 


2,420,982 


Minnesota 


1858 


83,365 


1.751,394 


Mississippi 


1817 


46,810 


1,551,270 


Missouri 


1821 


69,415 


3,106.665 


Montana 


1889 


146,080 


243,329 


Nebraska 


1867 


77,510 


1,068,539 


Nevada .... 


1864 


110,700 


42,335 


New Hampshire . 


O 


9,305 


411,588 


New Jersey . 


O 


7,815 


1,883,669 


New Mexico 


Territory 


122,580 


195,310 



* O means original state. 



Area and Population 



XXI 



STATES AND TERRITORIES— Continued 



State 
New York 
North Carolina 
North Dakota 
Ohio 

Oklahoma 
Oregon . 
Pennsylvania 
Rhode Island 
South Carolina 
South Dakota 
Tennessee 
Texas 
Utah 
Vermont 
Virginia 
Washington . 
West Virginia 
Wisconsin 
Wyoming 



Date of Area in Square 
Admission Miles 



Possessions of 



Name Date * Area 

Alaska 1900 590,884 

Guam 1887 180 

Hawaii 1900 4,310 

Hawaiian Islands . . . 1900 6,449 

Luzon 1887 40,024 

Philippine Islands . . 1900 114,356 

Porto Rico .... 1899 3,606 

Tutuila 1891 55 

United States (not including 

Alaska, etc.) . . . 1900 3,035,600 
United States ( including Alaska, 

Philippine Islands, etc.) . 1900 3,741,074 

* Year of Census or Estimate. t Estimated. 



o 
o 

1889 

1802 

Territory 

1859 

O 

O 

o 

1889 

1796 

1845 

1894 

1791 

O 

1889 

1863 

1848 

1890 



49,170 
52,250 
70,795 
41,060 
39,030 
96,030 
45,215 
1,250 
30,570 
77,650 
42,050 
265,780 
84.970 
9,565 
42,450 
69,180 
24,780 
56,040 
97,890 



THE United States 



Population, 
1900 

7,268,012 

1,893,810 
319,146 

4,157,545 
398,245 
413.536 

6,302,115 
428,556 

1,340,316 
401,570 

2,020,616 

3,048,710 
276,749 
343,641 

1,854,184 
518,103 
958.800 

2,069,042 
92,531 



Population 

63,592 

8,561 

46,843 

154,001 

3,442,941 

t8,000,000 

953,243 

3,750 

76,085,794 

85,368,941 



INDEX 



Abercrombie, General, 90. 

Abolitionists, the, 403-405, 408. 

Acadia, 84, 85, 91. 

Adams, John, lawyer, 127 ; defends 
Knglish soldiers, 219 : in First Con- 
tinental Congress, 226 ; elected Vice- 
President, 296 ; as President, 310- 
312, 337 ; of Boston Aristocracy, 376. 

Adams, John Quincy, connection with 
Monroe Doctrine, 331 ; fourth Re- 
publican President, 343-344 ; of Bos- 
ton Aristocracy, 376 ; portrait, 381 ; 
elected President, 382 ; in House of 

■ Representatives, 405. 

Adams, Samuel, part in Boston Tea 
Party, 220-221 ; in First Continental 
Congress, 225 ; , connection with 
Committees of Correspondence, 226 : 
favors independence, 228 ; delegate 
to Second Continental Congress, 
229-230. 

Agriculture, in early New England, 
116-117 ; in middle colonies, 119-120 ; 
period 1783 to 1828, 335-336; period 
1828 to 1860, 422-423 ; since Civil 
War, 516-518. 

Alabama, 349, 451, 470. 

"Alabama Claims," 508. 

Alabama, the, 479. 

Alaska, 507. 

Albany Congress, 95. 

Albemarle, Duke of, 41. 

Alexander, chief of Wampanoag In- 
dians, 59. 

Algonquin Indians, see Indians. 

Alien and Sedition Acts, 311-314. 

Altamaha settlement, 43. 

Amboy, 250. 

America, conditions favorable to dis- 
covery of, 2-7 ; discovery, 8-10 ; or- 
rgin of name, 16-17. 

American Civil War, the, 441-482 ; 
causes, 412-414 ; resources of the two 
sections, 443-447 ; early conflicts, 
453-455 ; military plans and prepa- 
rations, 455-457 ; eastern campaign 
( 1862 ) , 458-462 ; ( 1863 ) , 462-464 ; 
western (1862), 464-470; (1863), 471- 
474; campaign of 1864-1865, 474-478; 
work of the navy, 478-482 ; results, 
482. 

American institutions, origin of, 198- 
207. 

American navy in Revolution, 258 ; in 
War of 1812, 321-325, 327-338 ; in Civil 
War, 468-469, 478-482. 



American neutrality in European af- 
fairs, 306-307, 512. 

American Revolution, the, causes, 211- 
212 ; beginnings, 222-242 ; campaign 
against middle states, 243-261 ; war 
on the sea, 259 ; southern campaign, 
261-267 ; surrender of Cornwallis, 
267-269 ; Treaty of Paris, 270. 

Amherst, General, 98. 

Amnesty Proclamation, 489-490. 

Anderson, Major, 453-454. 

Andre, Major, 260, 261. 

Andros, Sir Edmund, 63-65. 

Autietam, battle of, 459-460. 

Anti-Federalist Party, see Political 
Parties. 

Apache Indians, see Indians. 

Appalachian Mountains as barrier be- 
tween English and French settle- 
ments, 89. 

Appomattox, 477. 

Aquednok, 49. 

Arbitration, 508-510. 

Aristotle, 3. 

Arizona, 398. 

Arkansas, 400, 454, 472, 490. 

Arkwright, 354. 

Arnold, General Benedict, 251, 254-255, 
257, 260-261, 263. 

Arthur, Chester A., 500. 

Articles of Confederation, 276-277, 285, 
286-289. 

Atlanta, 475, 476. 

Atlantic Cable. See Cable. 

Augusta, Ga., 43. 

Australian ballot system, 494, 498. 

Aztecs, 24. 

Bacon's Rebellion, 38-39. 

Balboa, 10-12. 

Baltimore, 419, 424. 

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 419. 

Baltimore, Lord, 39-41, 167. 

Baptists. Sec Religion. 

Bear Flag Republic, the, 401. 

Beauregard. General, 453. 

Beecher, Henry Ward, 524-525. 

Bell, John, 412. 

Bemis Heights, 255. 

Bennington, battle of, 254. 

Berkley, Sir William, 37-39, 41. 71-72, 

179. 
Bland Silver Bill, 503-504. 
Blockade, 318. 
Boleyn, Anne, 44. 
Booth, John Wilkes, 490. 



XXIV 



Index 



Boquet, General, 98. 

Boscawen, Admiral, 98. 

Boston, 121, 150, 216, 227-228, 364. 

Boston Massacre, 219. 

Boston Port Bill, 221, 225, 227, 241. 

Boston Tea Party, 220-221. 

Braddocks defeat. 95-97. 

Bradstreet, General, 98. 

Bragg. General, 470, 472. 

Brandywine, battle of the, 2.'i2. 

Branford. 48. 

Brazil, SSO. 

Breckenridge, .John C, 412. 

Breed's Hill, 2^3. 

Brooks, Lord, 48. 

Brown College, 184. 

Brown, General, 324. 

Bryant, William Cullen, 363, 431. 

Buchanan, James, 383, 452. 

Buckner, General, 467. 

Buell, General, 470. 

Bull Run, battle of, 454-455 ; second 

battle, 459. 
Bunker Hill, 243 232, 234. 
Bureau of Education, the National, 

525. 
Burgoyne, General, 232, 241, 252-255. 
Burke, Edmund, 241. 
Burnside. General, 460, 472-473. 
Butler, General Benjamin P., 468. 

Cabinet, the, 289-290. 

Cable, the Atlantic, 419-420. 

Cabots, the, 13. 

Cadwalader, Dr., 126. 

Calhoun. .John C, 320, 339-340, 386-388. 

California, 398-401, 407-408. 

Calvert, George, 39. 

Calverts, the, 71. 

Camden, battle of, 263-264. 

Canada, 83-85, 24d-251, 322-325. 

Canonchet, 60. 

Carleton, General, 251. 

Cartier, 13-16, 83-84. 

Cartwright, 334. 

Catholic church, the. Sec Religion. 

Catholics, the. See Religion. 

Champlain, 14-16, 86-88. 

Chancellorsville. 362-363. 

Charles I, 36, 47, 52-53, 61-62, 200, 205. 

Charles II, 62-66, 69-73. 

Charleston, S. C, 41, 113-115, 140. 

Chesapeake and Leopard, fight be- 
tween. 318-319. 

Chickamauga, battle of, 472-473. 

Chippewa, battle of, .324-325. 

Church and state, 123-125, 176. 

Church of England. See Episcopal 
church, the. 

Cities : period 1828-1860, 424 : period 
1828-1860, 425-427; since Civil War, 
519. 

Civil Service Laws, 379, 497, 499. 

Civil War. Sec American Civil War, 
the. 



Claiborne, William, 40. 

Clarendon, Earl of, 41. 

Clark, George Rogers, 25S. 

Clay, Henry, 320, 383, 407. 

Clermont, the, 3.58. 

Cleveland, Grover, 499, 500, 509. 

Climate. See Physical conditions. 

Clinton, General, 232, 255, 260, 261-263, 
267. 

Clinton, Governor, 295. 

Coal, 421-422. 

Coal Strike, 409-410. 

Colombia, 513. 

Colonial Committees of Correspond- 
ence, 224-426. 

Colonial Legislatures, 206, 212-213. 

Colorado, 398. 

Columbia River, 393. 

Columbia, S. C, 476. 

Columbia University, 186. 

Columbus, Christopher, 7-10. 

Commerce and transportation, 17S3- 
1S2S, 357-359. 

Commerce, New England, 119 ; middle 
colonies, 121-122 ; period 1783-1828, 
357-358 : period 1828-1860, 423-424 ; 
since Civil War, 518. 

Commercial industries, southern col- 
onies. 111-116; New England. 116-119; 
middle colonies, 120-123; during crit- 
ical period, 280 : period 1783-1828, 304, 
353-357; period 1828-1860, 415-416; 
since Civil War, 505-507, 517-522. 

"Common Sense," 238. 

Compromise of 1S50, the. 384, 407-408. 

Concord, battle of, 229-230. 

Confederate States of America, the : 
population, 443; resources (1861), 
444-446 ; organized, 449-452 ; capital 
removed to Richmond, 454. 

Congregational church, the, 125, 173. 

Congress, powers and duties of, 288- 
289. 

Connecticut, founded, 48 ; New Ha- 
ven, 4S. 

Constitution, the, 327. 

Constitution of the United States, 
framing, 283-288 ; principal features, 
2SS-295 ; ratification, 295-296 ; goes 
into effect, 296 ; and secession, 447- 
448 ; Thirteenth Amendment, 492 ; 
Fourteenth Amendment, 494-495 ; 
Fifteenth Amendment, 494-495. 

Constitutional Convention, the, 281- 
288. 

Continental Congress, the, 225-227, 231- 

Conway Cabal, 256. 
Cooper, .James Fenimore, 363-364, 431. 
Corinth. Miss., 468. 
Cornwallis, Lord. 248-250. 266-270. 
Corporations and trusts, 505-507. 
Cotton gin, the, 3.54, 356. 
Council for New England. See Ply- 
mouth Company. 



Index 



XXV 



County, the, as a political unit, 153- 

161. 
Cowpens, battle of, 265-266. 
Critiial period, the, 276-296. 
Crompton, 354. 

Cromwell, Oliver, 36, 37, 40, 61-62. 
Currency, 279, 390-392, 444-447, 501-504. 

Dale, Sir Thomas, 34-35. 

Dartmouth College, 184. 

Davis, Jefferson, 450-452. 

Dearborn, General, 322. 

Declaration of Independence, 234-241. 

Declaratory Act, the, 217. 

"Decrees" of Napoleon, 318. 

Delaware, 72. 

Delaware, Lord, 33, 34. 

Democratic party, 382-383, 499-500. 

De Soto, 12. 

Dewey, Admiral George, 511. 

Dinwiddle, Governor, 94-95. 

Discoveries and explorations : Span- 
ish, 8-13 : English, 13-14 ; French, 
14-16 ; Portuguese, 16-17 ; Dutch, 17. 

District, the, as a political division, 
156-157. 

District of Columbia, 407-408, 462. 

Dixon, Jeremiah, 74. 

Douglas, Stephen A., 408-412. 

Drake, Sir Francis, 13-14, 20. 

Dred Scott Decision, 409-412. 

Dudley, Governor, 63-64. 

Dutch, the, 67-69, 148-149. 

Dutch East India Company, 66. 

Dutch Reformed Church, 125. 

Dutch West India Company, 67. 

Early, General Jubal A., 476-477. 

East India Company, 219-220. 

Education, 176-187, 363-364, 430-432, 523- 
527. 

Edwards, Jonathan, 123. 

Effingham, Lord, 20. 

El Caney, 511. 

Electricity, 514-516. 

Eliot, Dr., 58. 

Emancipation Proclamation, the, 461- 
462. 

Embargo Act, 319-.320. 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 431-432. 

Endicott, John, 47, 57. 

Enforcement Act, 319-320, 329. 

English and Indians, relations be- 
tween, 55-60, 85-89. 

English struggle for liberty, the, 200- 
206. 

English territorial grants in North 
America, 18-19. 

Episcopal church. Sec Religion. 

Ericsson, John, 480-481. 

Erie Canal, 347-348. 

Established Church. Sec Religion. 

European claims in New World, 18-19. 

European Interference with United 
States, period of, 302-332. 



Eutaw Springs, battle of, 266-267. 
"Exposition and Protests" of South 
Carolina,. the, 385-388. 

Faneuil Hall, 156. 

Farragut. Admiral, 468-469. 

"Federalist, The," 295-296. ^ 

Federalist party, the, 340-345. 

Ferguson, Colonel, 265. 

Filmore, Millard, 383-384. 

Financial conditions : during the crit- 
ical period, 279-280 ; period 1783-1828, 
332-310; period 1828-1861, 385-392; 
during the Civil War, 501-504. 

Fisheries, 118. 

Five Nations, the, 23-24, 87-89. See 
also Iroquois. 

Florida, discoveries and explorations, 
11 ; invaded by Oglethorpe, 43-44 ; 
settlement, 83 ; purchase. 329-330 ; be- 
comes a state, 400. 

Florida, the, 479-480. 

Foote, Commodore, 468. 

Forbes, General, 98. 

Foreign relations, since Civil War, 
507-513. 

Fort Donelson, 466-468. 

Fort Duquesne, 94-95, 98-99. 

Fort Edward, 253-254. 

Fort Erie, 324-325. 

Fort Frontenac, 98. 

Fort Henry, 466-468. 

Fort Lee, 248. 

Fort Moultrie, 262-263. 

Fort Necessity, 94-95. 

Fort Niagar.i. 99. 

Fort Orange (Albany), 68. 

Fort Pitt, 98-99. 

Fort Stanwix, 253. 

Fort Sumter, 453. 

Fort Ticonderoga, 96-97, 99, 231, 253- 
254. 

Fort Washington, 246-247. 

Fort William Henry, 97. 

Fox, Charles James, 241, 269. 

France, struggle for North America, 
83-101 : aids Americans in Revolu- 
tion, 256-257, 267-270: French Revo- 
lution, 305-306 ; trouble with United 
States, 309-312, 317-320; sells Louisi- 
ana to United States, 314-317. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 95-96, 186, 283-288. 

Frederick the Great, 93, 239-240, 257. 

Fredericksburg, battle of, 460-461. 

Freedman, laws for regulation of the, 
493-494. 

Freedmen's Bureau, the, 494. 

Freedman's Farm, battle of, 255, 261. 

Fremont, General John C, 400-401. 

French, the, in North America, ex- 
plorations and settlements, 83-86 ; 
relations with Indians, 87-88 ; gen-' 
eral policy, 89-90 ; early conflicts 
with English, 90-92 ; French and In- 
dian War, the, 93. 



XXVI 



Ind 



ex 



French and Indian War, the, 93, '2V2. 

French and Indians, relations be- 
tween, 86-89. 

French Empire in Mexico, 508. 

French explorations and settlements, 
41, 83-85. 

French Revolution, the, 305-306, 330. 

Fry, Colonel, 94. 

Fugitive slave laws, 407-408. 

Fulton, Robert, 318. 

Fur trade, the, 85-86, 94, 121. 

Gadsden Purchase, 399. 

"Gag Resolutions," the, 405. 

Gage, General, 227-230, 233. 

Gallatin, Albert, 337. 

Garfield, James A., 500. 

Garrison, William Lloyd, 403. 

Gaspte, affair of the, 223. 

Gates, General, 254-255, 260, 263-264. 

General warrants, 202, 203, 214-215. 

Genet, Citizen, 306, 309. 

Geneva Award, 480. 

Genoa, 5. 

George III, 211-213, 236-239. 

Georgia, origin and growth, 42 ; gov- 
ernment, 43-44, 158, 165 ; agricultural 
products, 113-114 ; slavery, 132-133, 
287 ; education, 179 ; in the Revolu- 
tion, 244, 256, 261 ; importation of 
slaves, 287 ; secedes, 450 ; reconstruc- 
tion, 494-495. 

Germans, 41, 43, 148. 

Germantown, 253. 

Gerry, Elbridge, 310. 

Gettysburg, battle of, 463. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 13-15. 

Gold, discovery of, in California, 401. 

Gorges, Sir Ferdinand, 49-50, 61. 

Gortgou, Samuel, 49. 

Grant, General Ulysses S., on Mexi- 
can War, 398 ; in eastern campaign, 
458 ; character and ability, 464-466 ; 
Vicksburg campaign, 471-472; placed 
in command in West, 473-474 ; made 
lieutenant general, 474-475; cam- 
paign of 1864-1865, Appomattox, 475- 
478 ; presidential terms, 500. 

Grasse, Admiral, 267. 

Gray, Captain, 393-394. 

Great Meadows, 94-95. 

Greeley, Horace, 524. 

Greene, General Nathaniel, 247, 203- 
265. 

Gridley, Samuel, 127. 

Guam, 511. 

Guilford, Conn., 48. 

Guilford Court House, battle of, 266- 
267. 

Habeas corpus, right of, 201, 202-203, 

205. 
Hague Tribunal, the, 509, 510. 
Hale, Nathan, 261. 
Hallcck, General, 466, 468. 



Hamilton, Alexander, part in making 
national constitution, 283, 284; fight 
for ratification, 295-296; Secretary 
of Treasury, 296 ; a Federalist lead- 
er, 312 ; portrait, 335 ; financial 
measures, 335-337. 

Hampton, 50. 

Hargreaves, 354. 

Harrison, Benjamin, 500, 503. 

Harrison, William Henry, 334, 383-384. 

Harrison's Landing, Va., 459. 

Hartford, 48. 

Hartford convention, 329, 345, 386. 

Harvard, John, 184. 

Harvard, College, 145. 177, 184-185. 

Hawaiian Island, the, 512. 

Hawkins, Admiral, 20. 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 431. 

Hayes, Rutherford H., 500, 503. 

Hayne, Robert Y., 387. 

Hayti discovered, 9. 

Henry, Patrick, 127, 138, 215, 225. 

Henry VIII, 44-45. 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 431. 

Holy Alliance, the, 330, 331, 332. 

Honduras, 9. 

Hood, General, 475. 

Hooker, General, 462, 463, 472. 

Hopkins, Judge 225. 

House of Burgesses, the, first law 
making body in America, 35. 

Howard, Admiral, 20. 

Howe, Admiral, 245. 

Howe, Elias, 420. 

Howe, General, in French and Indian 
War, 98. 

Howe, British General in the Revo- 
lution, 233, 235, 245-248, 251-253, 258. 

Hudson, Henry, discovers Hudson 
River, 17. 

Huguenots, the, 41, 148. 

Hull, General, 332, 333. 

Hurons, 24, 86. 

Hutchinson, Anne, 49. 

Illinois, 277, 348. 

Immigration, 355, 415, 522, 523. 

Impressment, 308, 321. 

Incas, 24. 

Indented Servants, 135, 136, 143, 148. 

Independent Treasury System, 383, 392. 

India, 6, 9, 12, 13. 

Indiana, 277. 348. 

Indians, 21-24, 55-60, 86-88. 

Industrial conditions. Sec Commer- 
cial industries. 

Industrial life defined. 111. 

Institutional life, the five institutions 
of, 107-108. 

Institutions, American. See Ameri- 
can .institutions. 

Internal improvements. 347-348, 383. 

Interstate Commerce Act, 507. 

Intolerable acts, the, 221-222. 



Index 



xxvii 



Inventions and Discoveries, 1783-1S2S, 
198, 353, 354 ; period 1S28-1S60, 384, 419, 
420, 421, 422 ; since Civil War, 514, 
515, 516, 517. 

Invincible Armada. See Spanish Ar- 
mada. 

Iowa, 400. 

Irish, the, 148. 

Iroquois Indians, 21, 86-88, 91. 

Irving, Wa&hington, 363, 431. 

Island No. 10, 468. 

Isthmian Canal, the, 512-513. 

Jackson, Andrew, spoils system, 303, 
378, 379 ; victory at New Orleans, 
325, 326; in Florida, 330; attacks 
United States Bank, 338, 388, 389 ; 
election as President, 344, 361, 380, 

■ 381 ; characteristics and principles, 
376-379 ; on uulliflcation, 387 ; Specie 
Circular, 390. 

Jackson, General Thomas A. ("Stone- 
wall"), 459, 463. 

Jackson, Miss., 471. 

James I, 32, 36, 46, 204. 

James II, 64, 65, 71. 

Jamestown, Va., 33-35, 38, 112, 116. See 
also Virginia. 

Jay, John, 225, 295, 308. 

Jay Treaty, the, 308-309. 

Jefferson, Thomas, lawyer, 127 ; Sec- 
retary of State, 296 ; a Republican 
leader, 312 ; author of Kentucky and 
Virginia Resolutions, 313, 314 ; ne- 
gotiations with France, 315, 316 ; 
financial policy, 319-320, 337-338; 
elected President, 343, 375 ; of Vir- 
ginia aristocracy, 376 ; exploration 
of Oregon, 393 ; opposed to slavery, 
402. 

John I, 204. 

Jahn&on, Andrew, becomes President, 
492 ; reconstruction policy, 492-494 ; 
impeachment, 496 ; term, 500. 

Johnston, Albert Sidney, 468. 

Johnston, General Joseph E., 471, 475. 

Joliet, 14, 16, 84. 

Jones, Paul, 259. 

Judges, election of, 428-430. 

Jutes, 200. 

Kansas, 383, 408, 411, ^96. 

Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 383, 408-411. 

Kentucky, 347, 349, 461, 466, 469, 470. 

Kentucky Resolutions, 313, 314, 344, 387. 

King George's War, 90, 91. 

King Philip's War, 59-60. 

King William's War, 90-91. 

King's College, 186. 

King's Mountain, battle of, 266. 

Kno.x, General, 296. 

Knoxville, 472-473. , 



Labor organizations, 506-507. 

Lafayette, 2.J6-257. 

Lake Champ lain discovered, 16, 251, 
325. 

Lake Huron discovered, 16. 

La Salle, 14, 16, 17, 94. 

Law, profession of, 123, 127. 

Lee, General Charles, 246-248, 252, 258, 
260, 265. 

Lee, General Henry, 456-457. 

Lee, Richard Henry, 240. 

Lee, General Robert E., son of Gen- 
eral Henry Lee, 260 ; sketch of, 456- 
457 ; defeats McClellan in first 
Richmond campaign, 459 ; eastern 
campaign (18G2), 459-460; close of 
eastern campaign (1863), 463-464; 
results of eastern campaign (1863), 
473 ; final defense of Richmond, 475- 
477 ; surrender at Appomattox, 477- 
478. 

Leisler, Jacob, 71. 

Leopard, the, 318. 

Lewis and Clark Expedition, 393-394. 

Lexington, battle of, 228-230, 231, 243. 

Liberator, The, 403. 

"Light Horse Harry." See Lee, Gen- 
eral Henry. 

Lincoln, Abraham, elected President, 
411-412 ; on slavery, 412 ; policy de- 
fined, 452-454 ; Emancipation Procla- 
mation, 461-462 ; reconstruction pol- 
icy, 489-490 ; assassination, 490-491. 

Lincoln, General, 263. 

Lincoln-Douglas Debates, the, 411. 

Littlg Belt, the, 318-319. 

London Company, 32-33, 35-36. 

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 431. 

Long Island, 243-247, 263. ' 

Longstreet, General, 472-473. 

Lookout Mountain, battle of, 472-473. 

Louis XIV, 84. 

Louisburg, 91, 98. 

Louisiana (territory), exploration, 16, 
84 ; bought by United States, 314-317 ; 
slavery, 348-351. 

Lovejoy, Owen, 404. 

Lowell, James Russell, 431. 

Lundy's Lane, battle of, 324. 

Macdonough, Commodore, 325. 

Madison, James, connection with na- 
tional Constitution, 283-286, .295-296 ; 
author of Virginia Resolutions, 313; 
attitude toward War of 1812, 320-321. 

Magellan, 10-12. 

Magna Charta, 203-205. 

Maine, 49-50, 61, 350, 350-351. 

Maine, the, 510-511. 

Manassas Junction, Va., 454. 

Mann, Horace, 431. 

Manufacturing, New England, 117-llS ; 
middle colonies, 120-121 ; period 1783- 
1828, 353-3.55 ; period 1828-1860, 423 ; 
since Civil War, 516-518. 



XXVlll 



Index 



Marco Polo, 2. 

Marion, General, 203, 265. 

Marquette, 15-16, 84. 

Marshall, John, 289, 309-310. 

Maryland, 39-41. 

Maskoki. See Indians. 

Mason, Captain John, 57-58. 

Mason, Charles, 74. 

Mason, George, 127. 

Mawon, General John, 138. 

Mason, John, 49-50. 

Mason and Dixon line, 74-75. 

Massachusetts, founding and growth, 
46-47. See New England. 

Massasoit, 56. 

Mati flower, the, 45-46. 

McClellan, General George B., 458-459. 

McCormick, Cyrus., 421. 

McKinley, William, 500 ; portrait, E04. 

Meade, General George C, 463. 

Medicine, profession of, 126-127. 

Mcrrimac, the, 480-482. 

Methodist Episcopal church. See Re- 
ligion. 

Mexican War, the, 397-400. 

Michigan, 348, 400. 

Middle colonies, origin, growth, po- 
litical history, 66-76 ; physical char- 
acteristics, 110 ; commercial indus- 
tries, 119-123 ; ministry, 125 : social 
conditions, 147-151 ; education, 184- 
187. 

Mining, 422-423, 156-157. 

Ministry, the, 123-126, 177-183. 

Minnesota, 400, 587. 

Missionary Ridge, battle of, 472-473. 

Mississippi, 349, 451, 495. 

Missouri, 349-351. 

Missouri Compromise, the, 349-351. 

Mohawk Indians. See Indians. 

Mohegan Indians. See Indians. 

Money. See Currency. 

Monitor and Merrimae, the 480-482. 

Monmouth, battle of, 257. 

Monroe Doctrine, the, 330-3.32. 

Monroe, James, 331, 344. 

Montcalm, General, 97-101. 

Montgomery, General, 250-251. 

Morgan, General, expedition against 
Quebec, 260 ; under Gates, 254-255 ; 
victory at Cowpens, 265-266. 

Mormons, the, 430. 

Morse, Samuel P. B., 419-420. 

Moultrie, General, 262-263.- 

Mount Vernon, 282. 

Murfreesboro, battle of, 469-470. 

Narragansett Indians. See Indians. 

National bank system, 501-503. 

National-Republican party. See Po- 
litical Parties. 

Navigation Acts, the, 213-215. 

Nebraska. 408. 

New England, origin, growth and Po- 
litical History, 44-66 ; government, 



see Government ; physical charac- 
teristics, 109-110 ; commercial indus- 
tries. 116-119 ; ministry, 123-124 ; 
medical profession, 126; education, 
180-184 ; religion, 171-176. 

New England Company. See Ply- 
mouth Company. 

New England Confederacy, 54-55. 

New Hampshire, 49-50. 

New Haven, 48. 

New Jersey, 71-72. 

New Orleans, battle of, 325-326. 

New York, 66-71. See Middle Colo- 
nies. 

New York City, 121, 150-151, 251-253, 
518-519. 

Nipmuck Indians. See Indians. 

Non-Importation Agreements, 222-223. 

Non-Intercourse Act, 319-320. 

North Carolina, 41-42. 

North, Lord, 269. 

Northmen, the, 9-10. 

North Ministry, the, 211-212, 221. 

Northwest Territory, the, 277-279. 

Nullification, 384-388. 

Oglethorpe, James, 42-44. 
Ohio, 346, 496. 
Ohio Company, the, 93-94. 
"Old Ironsides," 327. 
Old South Church, 362-363. 
Oldham, John, 57. 
Orders in Council, 318. 
Ordinance of 1787, 277-279. 
Oregon, 393-395, 397, 399-400. 
Otis, James, 128. 

Pacific Coast, outlet to, 393-395. 

Pacific Ocean, 12. 

Paine, Thomas, 238. 

Pakenham, General, 326. 

Panama Canal, the, 512-513. 

Panic of 1837, 389-390. 

Paris, Treaty of, 270. 

Parish, the, as a political division, 
156-157. 

Parkman, Francis, 431. 

Parliament, 203, 207, 211-212. 

Patent office, 420. 

Patroons, 68. 

Pemberton, General, 471-472. 

Penn, William, 72-76. 

Pennsylvania, 72-76. See Middle Col- 
onies. 

People's Party, 500. 

Pcquod Indians, 56-58. 

Perry, Commodore, 323-324. 

Perryville, battle of, 469-470. 

Petersburg, 476-477. 

Petition of Rights, 205. 

Philadelphia, 74, 121. 150-151. 

Philippines, the, 510-512. 

Pickens, General, 263, 265. 

Pierce. Franklin, 383, 408. 

Pilgrims, the, 45-46. 



Index 



XXIX 



Pitt, William, 97-99, 216. 

Pittsburg, 98-99. 

Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 467-46S. 

Plantations, 113-116, 131-134. 

Plattsburg, battle of, 325. 

Plymouth Colony, 45-47, 52-53. See 
also Massachusetts. 

Plymouth Company, 45-47. 

Poe, Edgar Allan, 430, 431. 

Political methods, 373-382, 498-499. 

Political parties, period 1783-1828, 340- 
345; period 1828-1860, 382-385: since 
Civil War, 499-500. 

Polk, James K., 397-398. 

Ponce de Leon, 10-12. 

Pope, General, 460. 

Popular sovereignty, 408-411. 

Population of United States, 345, 400, 
443. 

•Populist party, 500. 

Porter, Admiral, 471. 

Presbyterian church, the. See Reli- 
gion and Education. 

Prescott, William H., 531. 

President and Little Belt, fight be- 
tween, 318. 

Presidential electors, 379-381. 

Princeton, battle of, 249. 

Princeton College, 186. 

Privacy, right of, 202-203. 

Privateers, 327-328. 

Prohibition party. See Political 
Parties. 

Protection. See Tariff Question, the. 

Puritan Church. See Religion. 

Puritans, 44-45, 50-51, 144-147. See 
Religion and Education. 

Putnam, General, 246. 

Quakers, the, 72-73, 122, 125, 151. 
Quartering of soldiers, right of, 202- 

203. 
Quebec, founded, 16, 84, 99-101. 
Queen Anne's War, 90-91. 
Quincy, Josiah, 219. 
Qulncy, Samuel, 127. 

Railroads, 416-419, 514-515. 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 13-14. 

Randolph, Edward, 63. 

Reaper, the, 420-421. 

Reconstruction A^ts, 494-495. 

Reconstruction of Confederate States, 
489-497. 

Religion, 44-45, 171-176, 362-363, 430. 

Repressive Acts, 221-222. 

Republican party. See Political 
Parties. 

Revere, Paul, 229. 

Revolution. See American Revolu- 
tion. 

Rhode Island, 48-49. See New Eng- 
land. 

Richmond, Duke of, 241. 

Right of deposit, the, 314-316. 



Right of search, the, 308-309, 318. 
Ripley, General, 324. 
Roads, 359, 416. 

Rockingham Ministry, the, 216. 
Roosevelt, Theodore, 449-450, 500. 
Rosecrans, General, 470, 472. 
Ross, General, 325. 
Rule of 1756, the, 307-308. 
Rutledge, John, 265. 

St. Leger, General, 253. 

St. Louis, 393, 424. 

San Francisco, 521. 

Santiago, battle of, 511. 

Saye and Sele, Lord, 48. 

Schuyler, General, 253-255. 

Scott, General Winfleld, 324, 398-399. 

Secession, right of, 447-449. 

Sedition Act, 313-314. 

Seminoles. See Indians. 

Seneca Indians. Sec Indians. 

Separatists, 44-45. 

Seven Years' War, the, 93. 

Seward, William H., 490. 

Sewing machine, the, 420. 

Shaftesbury, Earl of, 41. 

Shawnees. See Indians. 

Shays' Rebellion, 281. 

Shenandoah, the, 480. 

Sheppen, Dr., 126. 

Sheridan, General Philip H., 464, 466, 
470, 477. 

Sherman, Roger, 225. 

Sherman, General W. T., 464, 466, 471, 
472-476. 

Sherman Act, the, 503-504. 

Shiloh, battle of, 468. 

Shipping industry, the, 480. 

Shirley, Governor, 95. 

Six Nations, the, 91, 258. 

Slavery, effect on, of physical condi- 
tions, 107-110 ; and plantations, 116 ; 
introduced into North America, 116 ; 
In New England, 119, 14^; in middle 
colonies, 122, 147-148 ; in southern 
colonies, 132-135, 403-404 ; and Ordi- 
nance of 1787, 277-278 ; period of 1783- 
1828, 348-353 : period of 1828-1860, 402- 
414 ; Lincoln's attitude, 452 ; Eman- 
cipation Proclamation, 461-462 ; abo- 
lition of, 492. 

Smith, Captain John, 33-34. 

Social conditions, in the colonies, 128- 
130 ; in southern colonies, 130-143 ; 
New England, 143-147 : in middle 
colonies, 147-151 ; period 17S3-1S2S, 
361 : period 1828-1860, 425-427 ; since 
Civil War, 522-623. 

Socialist party. See Political Parties. 

Sothel, Governor, 42. 

South Carolina, 41-42. See Southern 
Colonies. 

Southern colonies, origin, growth, po- 
litical history, 32-44 ; commercial in- 



y 



XXX 



Index 



dustries, lll-llfi ; education, ITS-ISO ; 

social conditions, 130-113. 
Southold, 32. 

South Sea. See Pacific Ocean. 
Spain, 19-21, 257, 270, 315, 329, 330, 394. 
Spanish-American colonies, 330-332, 

396. 
Spanish- American War, 482, 510-512. 
Spanish Armada, 19-20, 83. 
Spanish settlements, S3. 
Specie circular, the, 390, 391. 
Specie payments, resumption of, 502, 

503. 
Spoils system, the, 303, 378, 379, 497- 

499. 
Squatter sovereignty, 408, 409, 411. 
Stamford, Conn., 48. 
Stamp Act, the, 215-217, 222. 
Stamp Act Congress, 215-216. 
Stanton, Edwin M., 495, 496. 
Stark, General, 254, 260, 263. 
State Banks, 338. 
Staten Island, 245. 
Steamboat, the, 358, 359, 416. 
Stephens, Alexander H., 452. 
Steuben, Baron, 257. 
Stillwater, 2.")4. 
Stony Point, 257, 260. • 
Stuyvesant, Peter, 68-69. 
Subtreasury System, 392. 
Sullivan, General, 249, 258. 
Sumter, General, 2C3, 205. 
Supreme Court Decisions, 352. 
Sutter's Fort, 401. 
Swedes, 68, 69, 72, 148. 

Tariff Question, the, period 17S3-1S28, 
333-.340 ; advantapo to manufactur- 
ing, 355 ; tariff of 1846, .383 ; "Tariff 
of Abominations," 385-389 ; since 
Civil War, 504. 

Tarleton, Colonel, 266. 

Taxation, right of, 201, 203, 205, 212, 
216. 

Taylor, General Zachary, 383, 384, 397. 

Tea tax, the, 219-220. 

Tecumseh, 324. 

Telegraph, the, 384, 360, 417, 514, 515. 

Tennessee, slavery, 349, 462 ; secession, 
454 ; in Civil War, 466, 469-470, 472, 
473 ; reconstruction, 490, 494, 495. 

Tennessee River, 466-468. 

Tenure of Office Act, 49.5, 496. 

Territory of United States, 345, 393-395, 
399, 400, 511, 512. 

Texas, 330, 383, 395-399, 451, 472, 495. 

Thames, battle of, 324. 

Thomas, General George H., 464, 466, 
470, 472, 475. 

Thresher, the, 304, 360, 421, 516, 517. 

Tippecanoe, 324. 

Tobacco, 111-112. 356, 413. 

Topography, climate and soil. See 
Physical Conditions. 



Tories, 242. 

Town, the, as a political division, 155. 

Town meting, 156. 

Townshend, Acts, 217-219. 

Township, the, as a political division, 

1.^-1.j5, 160. 
Trade between Europe and Asia, 5-6. 
Transportation, 357, 459, 415-417, 444, 

514-515. 
Treaties, of 1783, 307-308; Ghent, 325, 

328; of 1818, .394-395; of 1846, 395; 

Washington, 508. 
Trent affair, the, 507-508. 
Trenton, 248-249, 2.52. 
Trial by jury, right of, 202, 203, 206, 
Trusts, 505-507. 
Turks, the, 6, 7. 
Tuscarora Indians, 91. 
Tyler, John, 383-384, 397. 

"Uncle Tom's Cabin," 408. 
Underground Railroad, 408. 
Underbill, .lohn, 57. 
United Colonies of New England, 54- 

55. 
United States bank, 335, 336, 341, 342, 

383, 388-389. 
United States courts, 291-294. 
Utah, 388, 407. 

Valley Forge, 257. 

Van Buren, Martin, 383, 392, 397. 

Van Rensselaer, General, 322. 

Vane, Governor, 56. 

Venezuelan arbitrations, 508-509. 

Venice, 5-6. 

Vermont, 281. 

Vespucius, Americus, 17. 

Vice-President, powers and duties of 
the, 289. 

Vicksburg, 470-471. 

Virginia, origin and growth, 32-34 ; 
settlers, 34-35 : government, 35-38, 
157, 158, 160, 161, 165; territory, 39, 
277; climate, 110; agriculture, 112- 
113, 356. 422, 423 ; manufacturing. 114- 
115: plantations, 116, 131; learned 
professions, 125-127; population, 130; 
slavery, 132, 1.33, 134, 135, 2S7, 402- 
404 ; great men, 138 ; indented serv- 
ants, 148; religion, 173, 174, 176; ed- 
ucation, 179, 363 ; events leading to 
Revolution, 215, 216, 221, 224; Dec- 
laration of Independence, 240 ; in 
Revolution, 243, 244, 267, 477, 478 ; 
ratification of Constitution, 295-296 ; 
secession, 454 ; reconstruction, 495. 

See also Jamestown Colony. 

Virciinia, the, 480-481. 

Virginia Company, 32-33. 

Virginia Gazette, 141. 

Virginia Plan, the, 285-286. 

Virginia Resolutions, 345, 313-314, 328- 
329, 386. 



Index 



XXXI 



Wampanoag Indians, 59. 

War of 1812, the, 317-329. 339-340, 351, 
354, 355. 

War with Mexico, 383. 

Washington, D. C, 292, 325, 376, 419. 

Washington, General George, ances- 
tors, 38 ; in French and Indian War, 
94, 95, 96, 98 ; Virginia. 138, 376 ; in 
First Continental Congress, 225 ; 
commander-in-chief of army, 232, 
234, 242, 312 ; capture of Boston, 234- 
235 ; in middle states campaign 
(1776), 244-250, 252; connection with 
Burgoyne campaign, 252-253 ; Con- 
way Cabal, 256 ; Valley Forge and 
Monmouth, 257 ; treatment of Ar- 
nold, 260-261 ; Yorktown campaign, 
267-269 ; part in framing national 
Constitution, 281-286, 287, 288 ; por- 
- trait ; President, two terms, 296, 
332-333, 343 ; foreign policy, 306-309, 
332; domestic policy, 312, 336-338; a 
leader of Federalist party, 342-343 ; 
esteemed by the people, 343 ; opposed 
to slavery, 402. 

Washington (territory), 400. 

Washington, William, 265. 

Watertown, 47, 52. 



Wayne, General Anthony, 260. 

Webster, Daniel, 320, 383, 387. 

West, the settlement, 345-347 ; agricul- 
ture, 355-357 ; social conditions, 361 ; 
government, 362 ; period 1828-1861, 
400-401 ; since Civil War, 520-522. 

West Point, 247, 261. 

West Virginia, 536. 

Whig party, the. Sec Political Parties. 

Whisky Rebellion, the, 336-337. 

White Plains, 246, 248. 

Whitney, Eli, 354. 

Whittier, John Greenleaf, 431. 

William and Mary College, 179. 

Williams, Roger, 41-49. 

Wilmot Proviso, 405-406. 

Wilson tariff bill, the, 504. 

Wisconsin, 348, 400. 

Wolfe, General Charles, 98-101. 

Writs of Assistance, 214. 

Wyoming Valley, 281. 



X-ray, the, 516. 
X, Y, Z Affair, 



the, 211. 



Yale College, 145, 177, 184, 
York, Duke of, 167. 
Yorktown, Va., 267-209. 



JAN 18 1907 



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